Published: January 28, 2018

Legendary former BYU guard Jimmer Fredette has always been known for his ability to score the basketball, but on Sunday he showed that he can be an elite passer as well as the Shanghai Sharks fell to the Jiangsu Dragons 124-112 in overtime.

Fredette still carried the load scoring the ball as he totaled 41 points, but he also handed out a career-high 13 assists, collected eight rebounds and managed two steals while playing 50 minutes.

Fredette did most of his work in the second half and overtime as he dug the Sharks out of a 16-point halftime deficit with some huge baskets and pinpoint passing.

He totaled 28 points after the break while dishing out 10 of his 13 assists. He started things off by finding Cai Liang for a pair of wide open jumpers before spotting Nick Minnerath for a three from the top of the key.

He then got to the bucket himself and finished through contact. He added the free throw to finish off the 3-point play. He then handed out two more assists on Minnerath jumpers as the Sharks cut the Dragons’ lead to just two. Following a Jiangsu free throw, Fredette tied the game with a top of the key three off the dribble.

The Dragons answered, scoring 10 of the next 17 points as they regained a three-point lead with some clutch shooting.

Fredette started the fourth in attack mode as he hit a three and got to the basket for a fastbreak layup to give the Sharks the lead. He then threw a perfect lob to Dong Hanlin for the easy basket before burying a deep three of his own.

Fredette found Liang for another three before getting to the basket for a pair of layups in traffic as the Sharks opened up a nine-point lead.

It was then that the Sharks went cold as Jiangsu went on a 12-4 run to close to within a point in the final minute. Fredette pushed the lead back to three as he got to the basket for a layup before Yi Li answered with a three at the buzzer to tie the game.

Fredette did his best to keep the Sharks close in the extra session, scoring all seven of the team’s points, but it wasn’t enough as the Dragons came up with the win.

MarShon Brooks paced the Dragons in the overtime win as he totaled 44 points, nine rebounds and six assists while Miroslav Raduljica added 31 points, 11 rebounds and three helpers.

Minnerath totaled 25 points for the Sharks in the losing effort while Liang chipped in with 19 points on the strength of a 5-for-10 shooting night from 3-point range.

Through 32 games, Fredette is averaging 37.7 points on 47 percent shooting from inside the arc, 42 percent from 3-point land and 96 percent from the foul line. He also chips in with 7.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.0 steals in 41.1 minutes a night.

Up next for Fredette and the Sharks is a Tuesday night matchup with the Jilin Northeast Tigers who are 7-25 on the season after a 116-102 loss to Zhejiang.

The Tigers are led by the duo of Von Wafer and Carl Landry. Wafer is averaging 30.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists while Landry is putting up 26.8 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 32 games.

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