LIMOGES (France) - Cameroon's quest for a tenth FIBA AfroBasket ticket tipped off early this year with the side up against neighbours Equatorial Guinea, Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire in Yaounde.

The "Lions", as Cameroon's team are referred to, demonstrated their mettle smashing Equatorial Guinea 90-58 in what was almost a one-sided contest and they were still at it again with a 90-59 blow out of Guinea in Game 2.

With two impressive victories, Cameroon played Cote d'Ivoire in their next fixture.

"I HOPE WE CAN FINALLY GET THAT WIN AGAINST COTE D'IVOIRE BECAUSE IT'S BEEN HAUNTING ME FOR SOMETIME NOW AND I REALLY HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO GET THE TEAM QUALIFIED NEXT YEAR."- Benoit Mbala

The game in itself had a spectre of revenge written over it especially as Cote d'Ivoire's qualification to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 denied Cameroon a much-desired maiden appearance on the globe's most important basketball rendezvous.

But against the aspirations of the home fans, Cameroon fluffed their lines, losing 82-74 to Cote d'Ivoire who maintained a clean slate.

While for Cote d'Ivoire a third victory gave them an edge heading to the next qualifying window, for Cameroon it once again brought to the fore the Central Africans inability to be consistent and confirmed forward Benoit Mbala's fears that the team still has difficulties dominating crucial games.

Benoit Mbala

"Honestly we need to be more organized playing against the big teams," Mbala told FIBA.basketball.

"We won our first two games (against Equatorial Guinea and Guinea) by playing hard on both ends but against great teams like Cote d'Ivoire, we need to be more organized and play with composure."

Mbala's angst is perhaps justified by what he terms a "catastrophic" first quarter in their loss against Cote d'Ivoire where the West Africans established an 11-point gap leading 30-19 by the time the first segment of the matchup ended.

But heading into the second window of the qualifiers, the 25-year-old thinks the "Lions" ability to dominate on both ends of the court could come in quite handy for them as they hope to rival Africa's best nations in Rwanda next year.

"We played with great intensity on both ends of the floor. We played hard and we have to continue playing hard.

"We need to impose our rhythm against all the teams. We need to get them play our way and if we can do that, they'll struggle against us.

"During the first two games, we played with so much intensity that our opponents got tired really quick and subsequently we got turnovers, fouls and we got the points.

"Whenever we play slow, teams play zone defense and we sort of struggle because we can't get the fast break points or create turnovers, but this is something we now understand and we'll work on it," Mbala explained.

The versatile forward comprehends that for Cameroon to maintain the steam on its opponents, his teammates must stay in great shape.

The 2.03m (6ft 8in) who posted 12 points and a team-high 9.7 rebounds per game in February is thankful that the introduction of some younger players is inspiring the team to play better.

22-year-old Samir Gbetkom first linked up with the squad for the qualifiers in February but the point guard made his presence felt averagely, contributing 6.3 points per contest, and this Mbala feels he is foretelling of good fortunes.

Samir Gbetkom

"The young guys bring a lot of energy on the court and it's just great," Mbala said, adding "They want to learn and they want to give it all and when you head to practice, you see this and you understand something good is coming.

"The way we play, we need young legs, we need guys who can be relentless and really dedicate themselves to the game so having these young guys in the team is amazing.

"For some of them it's the first or second time playing for the national team and they want to help build something we've been wanting to build for the past years.

"I need to be able to help them, guide them because when I first came to the team, I had other people who guided me. If we can do this, we can really get the best from them and this will really be fantastic heading into February."

Mbala believes he has unfinished business at the AfroBasket.

His debut in the continental event in 2017 in Tunisia was scintillating and he left thousands of fans spellbound netting an incredible 21.8 points and a team high 9.3 rebounds per game to inspire Cameroon to a fifth place finish.

But close to four years after the Tunisian expedition, the Yaounde native now aged 25 has metamorphosed into a better player who now plies his trade for Limoges CSP in the French top tier Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB).

Mbala now hopes his experience garnered can be an asset for the "Lions" as they hope for a resurgence on the continental scene.

"Now I'm playing regularly in the league games and European fixtures and it's helped me improve.

"I just keep working on my game, being a leader and inspiring the younger players to better results.

"I hope we can finally get that win against Cote d'Ivoire because it's been haunting me for sometime now and I really have to find a way to get the team qualified next year," Mbala concluded.

FIBA