Ben Mbala is part of the 16-man pool of Cameroon for the FIBA World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers later this February in Dakar, Senegal.
The La Salle great will be marking his return to national team duties after missing last year’s Afrobasket wars in Rwanda, where his team finished dead last among 16 teams as it lost all three assignments in the preliminaries.
Still, the UAAP Season 79 Most Valuable Player is flanked by some of the players who fought in that continental showpiece, which was ruled by Tunisia for the second year in a row.
Nine holdovers are in the roster, namely Gedeon Pitard, Samir Gbetkom, Jeremy Nzeulie, Frank Herve Tchoubaye Bakala, Aristide Mouaha Tcheusse, Williams Narace, Arnold Kome, Philippe Bayehe, and Kenneth Kadji.
They are joined by Engelbert Beleck, Paul Eboua, Brice Eyaga Bidias, Junior Mbida, Roger Moute A Bidias, and Landry Nwoko.
The Lions will be without their NBA players such as Joel Embiid and Pascal Siakam, as the league’s season is still ongoing.
Ranked 64th in the FIBA World Rankings, Cameroon is pooled in Group B, together with Tunisia, Rwanda, and South Sudan.
It will battle the Tunisians on the 25th, followed by a meeting with Rwanda the next day before taking on South Sudan on the 27th. All teams will play in all three days of the window set to take place at the Dakar Arena.
