Sama Taku shines as Cameroon qualifies

Sama Taku bolstered his chances of making Cameroon's final roster for this summer's AfroBasket in Tunisia (19-30 August) by helping his country get past the Republic of Congo in the two-team FIBA Africa Zone 4 Group F qualifier played at Palace Multi-purpose Sports in Yaounde over the weekend.

The former University of the Pacific Tigers shooting guard came up big in his national team debut, sparking the "Indomitable Lions" with 10 points and eight assists in Friday's Game 1 81-69 victory. In Sunday's 80-68 defining victory, the 1.85m shooting guard led all scorers with 17 points as Cameroon secured their fifth consecutive AfroBasket appearance.

Louis Tsoungui's team showed up with a team comprised mostly of locally based players eager to join the elite of African basketball in Tunisia.

Just like Taku did, Harding Nana, who last represented Cameroon at AfroBasket 2009, made significant impact with averages of 15.5 points in two games.

Taku is the kind of player that team captain Gaston Essengue describes as part of the new generation of Cameroon basketball.