Liaoning, Shanxi to meet in CBA semis

Liaoning beat Guangsha 120-112 through overtime and won the best-of-five series 3-0 here on Wednesday, setting up a semifinal clash against Qingdao at the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league.

Qingdao closed up their series against Shanxi with a same 3-0 after wining the second home match 108-96.

Liaoning lost their reputation as "the king of the fourth quarter" as they were outscored 29-20 in the final period. Lin Chih-chieh's lay-up with 1:40 to go tied it 98-98. Then the "Beast" made in one three-pointer to even 103-103 before Liaoning's Liu Zhixuan missed the buzzer-beater.

He Tianju's two three-pointers in the beginning of the overtime secured Liaoning's berth in the semifinals. Liaoning beat Li Chunjiang's side 17-9 in OT and ruined Guangsha's hope of bringing the series back to Hangzhou.

Liaoning made it to their first semifinals in eight seasons, thanks to Lester Hudson's triple double of a match-high 40 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists. Hudson was just awarded the Most Valuable Player of the regular season, the first foreign player to have won the title twice.

Liu Zhixuan came from bench to have a second team-high 20 points, as well as five assists. All Liaoning players played and scored in the victory.

Liaoning's semifinal opponent will be Qingdao, who had snapped Liaoning's 17-game run in their first meet of the season. A strong 37-22 second quarter lifted Qingdao over Shanxi to their first ever CBA semifinal.

Von Wafer had a match-high 23 points for Shanxi but his and Jeremy Tyler's fouling-out in the fourth quarter just blew Shanxi's last hope.

Michael Harris finished with 22 points and 17 rebounds for Qingdao. Justin Dentmon had 21 while Hamed Ehadadi added 16 and 11 rebounds. Luo Xudong's 20 points led Qingdao's Chinese players.

The first match of Liaoning-Qingdao best-of-five series will be played in Qingdao.

Defending champions Beijing made it to the semifinals on Tuesday with a 3-0 tally against Jilin, while Guangdong are 2-1 up in their quarterfinal against Dongguan.

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