Senegal finalise roster for Manila OQT

VALLADOLID (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments) - Senegal on Tuesday finalised the 12-player roster for next week's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Manila. 

With Youssou Ndoye and Moussa Camara both cut, the pair of Thierno Ibrahima Niang and Louis Adams - the only two home-based players - have joined a line-up that includes Senegalese players coming from as far and wide as Poland and Israel. 

While Gorgui Dieng elected to withdraw from the team, Maleye Ndoye is set to extend his long national team career which began over a decade ago at the 2003 FIBA African Championship.

In the meantime Maurice Ndour and Hamady Ndiaye - two key players from the Senegalese side that stunned the basketball world at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup but missed last summer's African Championship - are set to return for the team that finished fourth at AfroBasket 2015. 

From 5-10 July, Senegal will take to the court in Manila, looking to secure a spot at the Rio Olympics. 

The Western Africans have been drawn in Group A along with Turkey and Canada. If they advance to the Semi-Finals, they will face a team from Group B which consists of hosts Philippines, France, and New Zealand. Only the winner of the tournament will advance to the Rio Olympics.

Three weeks into their OQT preparations, Senegal have lost all three of their warm-up games, including two defeats to Tunisia, followed by another one to Angola over the weekend in Valladolid, Spain.

FIBA