Published: January 2, 2018

Jimmer Fredette snapped out of his shooting funk in a big way to lead Shanghai Sharks to a 116-97 win over the Shanxi Brave Dragons on the road on Tuesday.

Despite constant double teams, Fredette finished with a game-high 41 points while shooting better than 50 percent from the field for the first time in six games. The former BYU guard connected on 15 of 29 shots from the floor, including 7-for-13 from 3-point land and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. He added seven rebounds, three assists and a block in 42 minutes of action.

Fredette really got things going trailing by a point midway through the second quarter as he reeled off 11 quick points to help the Sharks regain the lead. He started it out by using a well-timed down screen to get some space before connecting on a deep three.

He added a tough runner in transition before going back to work from outside. He hit threes on back-to-back possessions as the Sharks opened up a nine-point cushion. The first came in transition when he pulled up on the left-wing and drilled a 26-footer. He followed that up with a slick crossover to shake a double team before knocking down another left-wing three.

The Sharks never trailed from that point on as Fredette continued his hot shooting to propel them to the important win.

The Sharks also got a huge night from Nick Minnerath as they climbed to within one game of .500. He totaled 37 points on 12-for-22 shooting from the field, including 6-for-11 from beyond the arc and 7-for-8 from the charity stripe. He had a monster night on the backboards as well as he collected a game-high 17 rebounds in just 28 minutes of work.

Luis Scola paced the Brave Dragons in the loss with 33 points and 12 rebounds while Zeng Xu chipped in with 22 points, nine assists and six boards.

On the season, Fredette is averaging 37.6 points on 45 percent shooting from inside the arc, 44 percent from 3-point land and 96 percent from the foul line. He also contributes 7.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.0 steals in 40.7 minutes.

Up next for Fredette and the Sharks is a Thursday matchup with the Sichuan Blue Whales who come into the game with a record of 3-20 after a 115-101 loss to Guangdong on Tuesday.

The Blue Whales are led by Jamaal Franklin and Hamed Haddadi. Franklin is averaging 31.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists in his first year with the club while Haddadi chips in with 19.1 points, 15.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists.

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