ROSELLE (FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018) - Dominican Republic have been on the rise in world basketball. And Alanzo Frink hopes he can continue that push at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018 to secure the country a berth at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019.

The Dominicans played at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2014 for the first time since 1978. And the country has a perfect 4-0 record in their Group D in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers.

The country this summer will be playing at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup for the second edition in a row. And Frink will be one of the leaders in the Dominicans' hopes of making it two out of three at the U19 World Cup.

"It is important to get back to the world stage because we want to show people how great of a team we are," said Frink, who would like to add a U19 World Cup to his list of accomplishments after playing at the U17 World Cup in 2016.

Dominican Republic are now appearing at three straight U18 Americas events.

"IT WOULD BE AMAZING TO MAKE IT THAT FAR (REACHING THE U19 WORLD CUP). IT WOULD MEAN A LOT. IT WOULD TURN A LOT OF HEADS."FrinkFrink

"It's important because Dominican Republic is really the underdog. We have to show people what we are really about," Frink said. "We back down from nobody and we have people in Dominican Republic who support us greatly."

In the U18 Americas tournament in St. Catherines, Canada, Frink and co. have been drawn into Group A with Panama, Puerto Rico and United States. And the 6ft 9in (2.05m) wants to please the fans back home - especially after taking the title at the U17 CentroBasket Championship last summer in the Dominican Republic.