Published: December 13, 2017

Despite huge performances from Jimmer Fredette on an almost nightly basis, wins have been hard to come by for the Shanghai Sharks of late.

That trend continued on Wednesday as the Sharks dropped a 106-97 decision to the Jiangau Tongxi Monkey Kings even though the former BYU All-American guard had another nice scoring night.

Fredette finished with a team-best 32 points on 10-for-25 shooting from the floor, including 4-for-11 from distance and 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. He also chipped in with five rebounds, five assists and a pair of steal in 41 minutes of action.

It wasn’t enough to overcome double-doubles from J.J. Hickson and Jeremy Pargo as the Sharks fell for the fifth time in the last six games.

Hickson had his way on the inside most of the night as he totaled 36 points on 16-for-28 shooting from the floor. He also registered a game-best 20 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end to go along with four steals in 36 minutes.

While Pargo didn’t shoot it as well as Hickson (7-for-15 from the floor, including 1-for-7 from 3-point range), he was in a giving mood as he handed out 10 assists to go along with 15 points in his first game for the Monkey Kings.

Tongxi also got a big game from Guo Yifei who tied his season-high with 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the floor, including 4-for-6 from deep.

Nick Minnerath countered with 25 points for the Sharks on 50 percent shooting from the field and 5-for-6 from the foul line in 30 minutes. Wei Lu chipped in with 11 points while Zhang Zhaoxu added eight points and eight rebounds.

On the season, Fredette is averaging a league-leading 40.4 points a night on 44 percent shooting from inside the arc and 46 percent from 3-point land and 96 percent from the foul line. He also chips in with 7.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.9 steals in 42.1 minutes.

After his perfect night from the foul line, he has now gone eight straight games without missing a free throw. He is 63-for-63 from the line during that stretch.

Up next for Fredette and the Sharks is a visit from the league’s top team, the Liaoning Flying Leopards. The Flying Leopards are 12-3 on the season after a 116-108 win over Jilin on Wednesday.

Liaoning in led by the combo of Lester Hudson and Brandon Bass. Hudson is averaging 27.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.4 steals a game while Bass chips in with 23.3 points and 8.7 rebounds in his first season in the CBA.

Photo credit: By Bagumba (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons