American Join Smith scored 22 points to help the Southern all-star team win the 2006 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) All-star game 93-90.

Smith, who joined the Yunnan club in the middle of the 2005-2006 CBA season, also took home the MVP award after adding 10 rebounds and seven dunks for his side.

Liu Wei of Shanghai Sharks made one of two free throws to make it 93-90 with 18 seconds to go. Lu Xiaoming had a chance to pull the two teams into over-time, but his three-pointer attempt at the buzzer went wide.

Liu finished with 16 points for the Southern team.

The Northern team built a 46-33 advantage early in the second quarter before its opponent overtook the lead at 49-48 at the half time through a 14-0 run.

The Northern team was playing without Menk Bateer of Beijing Ducks, who won the 2006 CBA All-star vote with more than 130,000 ballots. Bateer withdrew from the game due to injury.

(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2006)