KOR/AUS – Valiant Korea push hard again but fall to Australia

HAMBURG (FIBA U17 World Championship) – For the third time in as many games, Korea displayed great effort for the entire game but came up short, falling to Australia, 84-70 in Group B action.

After losing to Spain (86-72) and Poland (101-83), things looked like they might be different for Korea as Dong Lee took matters into his own hands to give his team a surprise 39-32 lead at the break against the Australians.

The Boomers dominated the boards, getting 15 offensive rebounds in the first two quarters alone, but they could not make the most of it.

After the break, the Aussies took a page out of their opponents’ book – playing at full speed, getting out on the break as much as possible – and it proved to be a very efficient tactic.

Taylor Dyson made a lay-up in the final minute of the third period to edge them in front 52-51.

Andrija Dumovic, who finished with a game-high 25 points, stretched his team’s advantage further and they gradually pulled away the rest of the way.

Australia had a double-digit lead, 66-55, when Owen Odigie stole a backcourt pass and went in for an uncontested dunk with 7:17 left to play and they held Korea at bay.


Quotes:

Seung Hwan Kim, Korea head coach: "We had some players injured during the game, which made it hard to for us to compete on a high level against the Australians."

Guy Molloy, Australia head coach: "We shot miserably in the first half and had to defend much better than we did in the beginning. That changed in our favor over the course of the second half."

FIBA