The Liaoning Hunters put an end to the Guangdong Southern Tigers' winning streak when they staved off the Chinese Basketball Association front-runner 87-82 in the 15th round at home on Friday.

Youngster Liu Xinagtao was the highest scorer for the home team, draining four three-pointers for twenty points. Wang Shipeng contributed 18 points to Guangdong and flu-affected Yi Jianlian scored 14 points with 11 rebounds, but they could not stop their team's first away defeat of the season.

The visiting side took the lead after Zhu Fangyu shot five points to start the game in style. Then Liaoning rallied together to take command with a 13-3 surge. The scores were set 29-16 in favor of Liaoning by the end of the first quarter.

Liaoning successfully held their advantage until the final whistle, though Guangdong managed to narrow the gap to just two points in the third quarter.

Elsewhere in the league, the Bayi Rockets registered their eighth consecutive win and nailed the Xinjiang Flying Tigers 96-91 after Wang Zhizhi and LI Nan shot 21 and 25 points respectively.

Despite the defeat, Guangdong is still at the top of the standings with 13 wins and two losses. Jiangsu and Bayi follow.

The results from the other matches were Fujian-Shandong 111-107, Jilin-Yunnan 108-96, Shaanxi-Zhejiang 89-94, Guangsha-Shanxi 91-90, Jiangsu-Dongguan 128-111, Shanghai-Beijing 99-90.

(CRI December 30, 2006)