Marlain Veal (2nd left) of Sichuan Blue Whales goes for a basket under the defense of Sun Minghui of Zhejiang Lions during their 7th round match at the 2022-2023 season of the Chinese Basketball Association league in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province, Oct 26, 2022. (CHEN ZHENHAI / XINHUA)

ZHUJI, China - The Tianjin Pioneers extended their losing streak to 14 games after falling 101-92 to the Nanjing Monkey Kings, while the Sichuan Blue Whales smashed the Fujian Sturgeons 101-81 in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league here on Thursday.

Tianjin hit eight 3-pointers in the first quarter to lead 30-20. Nanjing made a comeback in the second quarter with a 13-0 run thanks to Lual Acuil, who notched eight points in three minutes, and turned their fortunes around to go into the halftime break 47-45 ahead.

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Nanjing capitalized on a 16-2 run after the interval to build an eight-point cushion into the final quarter. Tianjin went up 87-86, but Nanjing held their nerve to win with better execution in the last three minutes.

Acuil notched a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead five Nanjing players in double digits. Lin Ting-chien led Tianjin with 17 points. Quinndary Weatherspoon and David James added 16 and 15 points respectively.

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Sichuan and Fujian had a see-saw first quarter before Fujian led 29-28. Sichuan then embarked on an 8-0 run to open the second quarter and lead the first half 61-53.

Sichuan extended their advantage to 19 points into the final quarter and never looked back.