ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia) - Luke Paul reaped the benefits of his efforts after bagging home Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup 2025, Sunday night at the MBank Arena.
The 1.90 M (6'2") guard was bestowed with the competition's highest individual honor after helping Australia complete their quest toward a historic 'four-peat' with an 85-58 beatdown of China in the Final.
He finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists in the title bout as his all-around showing enabled the Crocs to win the gold medal for the fourth time, breaking a tie with the Chinese for the most number of crowns.
Paul finished the tournament with per-game averages of 14.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists to help the Australians stretch their unbeaten streak to 23 games in the biennial continental festivities as well.
By winning MVP, Paul bannered the All-Star Five, which also featured his teammate Will Hamilton, the China tandem of Zhang Yizhaojie and Zhang Ziyi, and Tawhiri Cate of bronze medalists New Zealand.
Hamilton, who was named the 2024 FIBA U15 Oceania Cup MVP, had 16 points and 8 rebounds in the Final and went on to finish the 2025 U16 Asia Cup with norms of 14.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists.
Yizhaojie, on the other hand, was a major driving force behind China's return to the Final after eight years as he led his team in scoring with 16.2 points, all while collecting 4.5 rebounds and the same amount of assists.
Ziyi, for his part, provided solid presence inside for Team Dragon as evidenced by his averages of 11.2 points and 8.5 rebounds plus 1.8 blocks, as the promising center was among the 10 best shot-blockers of the tourney.
Cate, lastly, helped the Junior Tall Blacks ensure a podium finish with 17 points and 7 assists in their 93-92 win over Japan. He ended the meet with 13.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 7.8 assists to his name.
FIBA