In a high-octane season opener on Sunday in Dongguan, the Guangdong Southern Tigers outlasted the Nanjing Monkey Kings 107-102 in overtime, despite a career-high 42 points from Guo Haowen.
Guangdong set the tone early with a textbook defensive-to-offensive sequence: Wang Shaojie blocked a shot, leading to Xu Jie feeding Hu Mingxuan for a fastbreak layup and a swift 14-11 lead.
The Tigers faced a scare before halftime when Xu Jie left the court after breaking his brow bone during a contested three-point block on Wu Tingjia. His absence tested Guangdong’s depth but didn’t derail their momentum.
After the break, Nanjing roared back. Guo Haowen delivered a relentless scoring onslaught, drilling six triples and weaving through defenses before finding Brady Manek for a go-ahead floater that put the Monkey Kings up 80-79 in the fourth quarter.
With the game tied 94-94 at the end of regulation, overtime belonged to Guangdong. Edmond Sumner powered to the rim for crucial buckets, finishing with 26 points, and set up Zhang Wenyi’s corner three to seal the win.
The Southern Tigers will carry this confidence into Tuesday’s road game against the Zhejiang Golden Bulls.
Reference(s):
Guo Haowen scores 42 points but Nanjing fall to Guangdong in overtime
cgtn.com
