Paul shines as Crocs book semi-final vs Japan

The Australian Crocs have fought off a slow start to book their spot in the FIBA Under-16 Asia Cup in Mongolia after a 98-70 win over South Korea in their quarter-final match-up.

Australia faces Japan in a semi-final at 9pm today.

An encouraging start by the South Koreans was trumped by an Australian side that was simply too big and too strong, with a strong bench effort and paint presence the two main catalysts for the victory.

Key Details

• Result: Australia 98 def. South Korea 70‍
• When: September 5, 2025‍
• Where: MBank arena, Mongolia

By The Numbers

Luke Paul led the way for the Australians, with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals on 8-from-11 shooting in 25 minutes, supported by Tom Dammers (14 points), Lucas Byrne (14 points) and Isaiah Jorgenson (12).

Seunghyeon Lee and Taejoon Park were clear standouts for South Korea combining for 42 points (25 and 17 respectively), with Park recording 11 assists and four steals.

What Happened

The Aussies started strongly out the gate with two Tom Dammers three-pointers allowing the Crocs to jump out to a 10-4 lead. However, seven Aussie turnovers leading to 11 points plagued their start with South Korea also scoring eight fast break points.

Crocs coach Greg Vanderjagt tried to address to poor ball control during a timeout, saying "we’re too slow before we make a decision" and "we’re dribbling through the pressure".

South Korea continued with a 17-4 run to extend their advantage to eight, headlined by a steal and score by Seunghyeon Lee, who scored 11 points in the opening period. This was before the Aussies dropped into a zone defence, which turned the game on its head, as they dominated the paint and scored the last 12 of the quarter to lead 25-21.

Continuing on with their form from the previous quarter, the Crocs built a 19-2 run into the second where they pushed out to a nine-point lead. A feature of the first half from the Aussies was their interior authority. They comprehensively beat Korea on the glass by 13, leading to nine offensive rebounds and a 12-0 lead in second chance points. This dominance mixed in with more ball security, allowed the Aussies to extend their lead even further but a 10-attempt advantage at the free-throw line kept their opponents in the game.

Luke Paul had a well-rounded first-half stat line to hand the Aussies a 48-37 advantage, supported by the \facilitation of Antonio Browne, the rebounding of Alex Mabbott, and the shooting of Tom Dammers. Lee and Taejoon Park combined for 29 of Korea’s 37 first-half points.

Any doubt that may have arisen from their inconsistent first half were crushed as the Aussies consolidated their lead in the third quarter, extending their advantage to 19 (73-54). The trend of crashing the glass continued in the second half, as Korea lost their way offensively and their field goal percentage plummeted. Paul and Lucas Byrne led the way for the Crocs.

Australia closed out the game strongly in the fourth quarter, and coach Greg Vanderjagt would be praising his young side for their defensive effort, as Korea ended the game shooting just 37% from the field and 29% from three. In contrast, the Aussies ended shooting 58% from the field and 43% from beyond the arc.