(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-18 09:26

BAYUQUAN, Northest China - Guangdong Hongyuan was one step away to the championship as it took a 3-0 lead after beating Liaoning Hunters 106-83 in Game 3 of the final of the Chinese Basketball Association league (CBA).

Zhu Fangyu, who had the game-high 28 points, capped a 10-0 run with a dunk in 1:26 minutes to give Guangdong 26-16 lead, and the visiting team never looked back for an all-round victory.

Guangdong, which is seeking for the fourth title in five seasons, could wrap up the series on Wednesday here as no team has ever come back from three matches down to win the final in CBA history.

"We played one of our best games and commanded Liaoning on every aspect on the court. We beat them on the board for the first time and had less turnovers. We showed we are a better team," Guangdong's coach Li Chunjiang said.

Lamond Murray contributed 17 points and Dixon Jason had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Guangdong.

Bian Qiang led Liaoning with 21 points and Liu Xiangtao came back from an angle injury to score 14 points in 17 minutes.

"We had to accept the fact that Guangdong is a better team. We did our best but could not win the game," Liaoning's coach Guo Shiqiang said. "Our goal now is to put the series into Game 5 in Guangdong."

After a brief lead at the start, Liaoning lost ground on the defence as Guangdong buried four consecutive 3-pointers to stamp the domination.

Guangdong extended the lead on every quarter for another easy victory.