Cameroon emerged as the best team at the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Lagos, Nigeria after they defeated Senegal 80-74 in the final on Sunday.
As a result, Cameroon pick the sole ticket to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament beating reigning Afrobasket champions Tunisia, Guinea, Mali and Senegal.
Despite achieving this feat without a defeat, head coach of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, Alfred Aboya says his team are a work in progress.
"This is not our best, we will continue to improve in every game and every competition so that we can get there."
The 2021 Afrobasket was a nightmare for Cameroon having finished at the bottom for the first time at the Afrobasket. They also failed to make it to the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup scheduled to tip-off this weekend in Indonesia, Japan and Phillipines finishing with a 4-8 record in the African Qualifiers.
Aboya said the Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Nigeria gave them an opportunity to measure their progress.
"This competition is a good perimeter for us to measure our progress. 2021 Afrobasket we finished 16/16 that is last. When you are bottom of the peak, there is only one way and that is to go up.''
''With this group of guys, we have put in a lot of work, dedication, there has been a lot of motivation brought to the locker room and you can then add the will to win, at that point you start to see the results like you see right now."
Cameroon who outscored Senegal 22-8 in the second quarter to take a 14 point-lead to the locker room found their lead to cut down to 8 at the end of the third quarter. The lead was further reduced to 1 with 1:27 seconds remaining. The Aboya-led team however rallied to beat Senegal after a 7-2 run.
A proud Aboya was full of praise for his players, "I am proud of this group of guys they are fighters.''
He continued, "it is about momentum shift, you get the momentum one action happens and the momentum shifts again you just have to try not to get too low and don't get too high that's why I am trying to instil this in my players that they have to believe in themselves. Once you do that, great things would happen.''
Cameroon will hope to maintain the momentum which they have built recently as they turn their attention to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament and Afrobasket 2025 Qualifiers.
''We will assemble, go to training camp and any willing Cameroonian who want to defend the colours of the country they are always welcome, Aboya revealed.
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