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BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The relentless Zhai Xiaochuan pourd a team-high 35 points with 11 rebounds to lead Beijing returning to the top eight after a 110-98 away triumph over Fujian in the penultimate round of CBA regular season.
Beijing's team leader, former NBA all-star Stephon Marbury was suffering a strained thigh muscle, only scored eight points. But home players found their form just in time as Zhai Xiaochuan made 13 of his 14 attempts, Fang Shuo added 21 points and Ji Zhe had 13.
Fujian's young talent Wang Zhelin finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds, but missed 8 of his 15 free throws. Foreign player Dwight Buycks led the home team with 30 points, but only made 2 of 11 three-point shots.
Meanwhile Shandong was defeated by league-leader Xinjiang 118-85, losing four games of the past five and currently dropped to the 9th place of the ranking. Thus, Beijing returned to the play-off zone after a two-game winning streak.
The Iranian central Hamed Haddadi produced a triple-double, scoring 37 points with 19 rebounds and 12 assists to help Sichuan secure a berth in the playoff after a 117-109 victory over Tianjian. The veteran guard Liu Wei added 20 points and pulled down 8 rebounds.
Liaoning exchanged the ranking place with Guangsha, dropping from 4th to 5th, after losing to them 98-95. Guangsha's American guard Courtney Fortson contributed a triple-doulbe with 24 points 13 rebounds and 14 assists. Lester Hudson led Liaoning with 34 points, but missed 12 of 16 attempts out the three-point line.
In Friday's other games, Shanxi humiliated Guangzhou 124-89, Guangdong beat Jiangsu 110-96, Bayi defeated Qingdao 104-100, Tongxi lost to Shenzhen 112-128, Jilin smashed Zhejiang 122-98, Aolong fell to Shanghai 87-104.
Beijing will play host to Sichuan in the last round on Sunday. If Beijing wins, the two teams will enter into the playoff together, as the capital-based team will rise to the 7th place and Sichuan rank the 8th. Shandong still hold the chance to appear in the next phase if they beat Qingdao in Sunday's game, at the same time Sichuan must defeat Beijing.
