Cameroon outclass Guinea in Pre-Olympic basketball qualifier

August 15, 2023

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Ifeanyi Eduzor
The national basketball team of Cameroon Tuesday, August 15, 2023 sent a strong message to other five countries in the ongoing France 2024 Pre- Olympic qualifiers that they’re not in Nigeria to make up the numbers as they humbled Guinea in match Day 2 of the tournament.
The Paul Biya boys who were very cautious in the early minutes of the game, rediscovered themselves from the second quarter which they won by 45-40 after narrowly losing the first quarter 19-20.
The two Francophone countries came into the third quarter determined to out do each other but the Central Africans proved to be the more coordinated side winning the quarter by 78 – 59 thereby throwing up a 19 points lead
The Guinea Conakry boys were a shadow of themselves in the fourth and final quarter allowing the Cameroonians to dictate the pace of the game gaining many rebounds which enabled their points man, John Tonje freely scoring three points which help them win the game 104-74.
Speaking after the game Coach of Cameroon, Alfred Roland Aboya Baliaba expressed happiness with the victory declaring that their focus is their next match against Tunisia on Wednesday.
He commended his players for doing the needful noting that it’s not yet celebration time as a lot of job still need to be done
Also speaking captain of the side, Jeremiah Hill who recorded 11 points in the game expressed optimism that his colleagues will be spurred by the victory to go all out for more glory in the tournament.
In his own words Guinean coach, Zeljko Zecevic congratulated the Cameroonians for their victory; saying that his side is a team for the future, noting that they lost to a more experienced side.
He was also full of praises for the Nigeria Basket Federation and FIBA for putting up a seamless tournament while captain of the side, Ibrahima Diallo while thanking the Guinean Federation for believing in him and giving him opportunity to be part of the team, promised that they’ll still do their best in the remaining games.