Shenzhen's 3-pointers drown Guangdong in CBA semifinals Game 3

SHENZHEN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- A 17-of-36 performance in three-pointer shooting lifts Shenzhen over Guangdong 109-90 here on Wednesday and Guangdong now leads Shenzhen 2-1 in the best-of-seven CBA semifinal series.

Shenzhen only sank in 18 three-pointers in the previous two matches but their shooters burst out tonight on home court. Meng Duo hit match-high six three-pointers while Gu Quan and He Zhongmian combined for seven.

But Jeremy Pargo is still the hero of the Shenzhen city. The guard scored match-high 33 points, 18 of which came in the first period. He also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out seven assists.

Guangdong opened the match with an 11-2 run and forced Shenzhen to call a timeout when the match started for less than four minutes. Pargo then stood out and took control of the match. He scored 18 of Shenzhen's 26 points in the remainder of the first quarter. He Zhongmian also added two three-pointers to help Shenzhen tie the score at 28-28 after the first period.

Shenzhen's shooters continued their hot-handed performance in the second quarter. They made in five three-pointers in that period while their opponents only had three for the entire first half. Shenzhen headed into the second half with a two-point lead.

Shenzhen pulled away with a 16-2 run in the beginning of the third quarter, before Guangdong cut the gap to only five points with five minutes to the end of the match.

Zhou Peng then committed his fifth personal foul and then a technical foul, which not only sent himself off the court but also Shenzhen's Gu Quan to free-throw line. Gu made in all three throws and enlarged Shenzhen's lead to ten points again. Guangdong failed to score any point in the last three minutes.

Pargo led Shenzhen with 33 while Gu Quan helped with 20. Meng Duo and He Zhongmian had 18 and 12 respectively. Maciej Lampe added 17 and eight rebounds.

"We played good defense tonight. Everyone on the court tried his best," said Wang Jianjun, head coach of Shenzhen. "Those three-pointers helped our players establishing their confidence. I think it will help us in the next matches."

Only three Guangdong players scored in double-digits. Donald Sloan led the team with 27 and 11 rebounds. Zhou Peng took 25 and Carlos Boozer had 13. Guangdong's all-star forward Yi Jianlian, who was injured in Game 2, played for 30 minutes but finished with only seven points.

"We played a tough match. Our opponents had quite a high accuracy because we didn't give them enough pressure," said Guangdong's head coach Du Feng. "Defense will be out priority in the next game."

The fourth game of the series will still be played in Longgang, Shenzhen on Friday.