Senegal bares 14-man lineup for FIBA Olympic qualifiers

MANILA, Philippines — Roughly a week after Gilas Pilipinas announced its 14-man lineup for a European training camp, Senegal has also unveiled its own.

Senegal, which is under Group A of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, will be locking horns with Turkey and Canada. The hostilities are set here from July 5-10 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

France, New Zealand and the Philippines will be pitted against each other in Group B.

The African squad secured a berth in the OQT after reaching the AfroBasket semifinals last year.

Only the top two teams to emerge from the qualifiers will be able to join the Rio de Janeiro Olympic fray, which is just 50 days from now.

FIBA.com notes that the Senegalese lineup will be headlined by Antoine Mendy and Ibrahima Thomas, who have left their respective prints in the AfroBasket last year.

Here’s the full breakdown of the 14-man Senegalese lineup, which will be mentored by Porfirio Fisac, per FIBA:

• Adama Louis Adams - Guard - 6’1"
• Moussa Camara - Forward - 6’5"
• Serigne Bamba Gueye - Center - 6’9"
• Clevin Hannah (Naturalized) - Guard - 5’10"
•  Antoine Mendy - Forward - 6’6"
• Cheikh Tidiane Mbodj - Center - 6’10"
• Thierno Ibrahima Niang - Guard - 6’1"
• Ibrahima Thomas - Forward - 6’11"
• Hamady Ndiaye - Center - 7’0"
• El Hadji Malick Ndiaye - Guard - 6’5"
• Maurice Daly Ndour - Forward - 6’9"
• Abdoulaye Ndoye - Forward - 7’0"
• El Hadji Maleye Ndoye - Guard - 6’5"
• Youssoupha Ndoye - Center - 7’0"

Only four players who saw action in the World Cup in Spain have returned for the OQT. They are Niang, Ndour, Thomas, Ndaiye (Hamady) and Ndoye (Maleye).

Senegal finished 16th in that same tournament, where they also lost to the Philippines after a sensational outing by then skipper and PBA veteran Jimmy Alapag.

The African contingent will be sorely missing the services of NBA cager Gorgui Dieng, who withdrew from the initial 23-man lineup earlier this month.

Fisac replaced longtime Senegal coach Cheikh Sarr also this year.