Former Cesafi imports in Cameroon nat’l pool

TWO FORMER reinforcements in the Cesafi have been named to the 30-man pool of Cameroon’s national basketball team.

These were former Southwestern University-Phinma and now La Salle star Ben Mbala and ex-University of Cebu import and now San Beda standout Arnaud Noah.

On Sunday, the Cameroon Basketball Federation released a 30-man pool of head coach Lazare Adingono. And while current NBA players Joel Embiid of the Sixers, Luc Mbah a Moute of the Clippers and Pascal Siakam of the Raptors headline the list, also included is Mbala, the 6-foot-8 forward who took the UAAP by storm last season when he averaged 20.6 points, 16.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 2.4 blocks on his way to leading the Green Archers to the championship.

Noah, on the other hand, briefly played for the Webmasters in the 2013 Partner’s Cup but has now found a home in the Red Lions camp. He was named the NCAA Finals MVP after averaging 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in San Beda’s finals win over the Arellano Chiefs.

If given permission, Mbala said that he would love to try his luck in making the team.

“Yeah, why not? That will be a great learning experience for me,” said Mbala, who started to make his mark when he captured camp MVP honors during the 2011 Basketball Without Borders Africa, before making his way to Cebu to join the Southwestern University Cobras.
“It feels great because it shows that all my hard work is being recognized.”