Beijing Ducks apologize for behavior against Shenzhen

BEIJING - Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) club Beijing Ducks on Tuesday apologized for the actions of some team members in Sunday's match against the Shenzhen Aviators.

With the scores locked at 92-92 with just 1.7 seconds remaining, Beijing point guard Liu Xiaoyu was ruled to have committed an unsportsmanlike foul after referees reviewed the video replay, prompting strong protests from Beijing's players.

Captain Zhai Xiaochuan constantly questioned the refereeing. Head coach Xie Libin didn't stop his players' actions and led some to leave the court without the referees' permission, which interrupted the match.

"We made a sincere apology, as we failed to keep order and manage the emotions of our team members on court. We allowed some unnecessary actions to interrupt the match, and ruined the enjoyment for Beijing's fans. We are sorry," read a club statement.

The club added that, since the incident took place, it has been open to criticism, opinions and advice from all parties.

"Through self-inspection, we realize that whenever and wherever, we should not forget about where we set out to do and what we play for.

"We should try our best to make our fans proud. We feel deeply sorry for letting you down. We will move forward in a better way and become a better team to feed back your support and bring you happiness," added Beijing's statement, which also expressed gratitude towards the league and other CBA clubs.

"We will draw lessons from this incident and resolutely make changes to bring brilliant games to the CBA court, pass on positive things to those who love basketball, and make contributions to Chinese basketball's growth," the statement concluded.