By Kelvin Ekerete

D’Tigers head coach, Alex Nwora, has arrived San Domingo with a total of 15 players out of the 44 invited ahead of a two-legged international friendly against fellow World Cup-bound Dominican Republic on July 20 and 22 with some players expected to be dropped after the friendly.

The team converged on Buffalo, USA for their first phase of camping for the World Cup, with the second phase set to begin on July 29 with invited NBA players expected to join up with the rest of the team on August 5.

Nwora stated that the friendlies would enable him assess the players in game situations.

“This won’t be an easy decision but we just have to do it. If I had my way, I would have loved to take all the 44 players to the World Cup, but sadly this is not possible,” Nwora said.

The players invited for the friendly include Ben Uzoh, Ikenna Oroegbu, Ike Diogu, Talib Zanna alongside Tosin Mehinti, Chris Obekpa, Alade Aminu and Akindele Ayodeji have all been selected ahead of the test match.

Others are Jordan Ogundiran, Caleb Agada, Ikechukwu Nwamu, Gabe Vincent, Stanley Okoye, Stephen Domingo and Tarekeji Odogi who will all feature in the game taking place at the Palacio De Los Deportes.

The two-legged friendly slated for Saturday and Monday is part of the programme lined up by the Nigeria Basketball Federation to get the team ready for the Mundial.