With Jamaica virtually a win away from the final round of FIBA World Cup Qualifying, Head Coach Rick Turner believes home support will be crucial as they take on Bahamas this evening at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston, starting at 6:10 pm.

The national men’s team is coming off two impressive victories over one of the region’s best, Puerto Rico, registering a 92-90 win on November 28 and a 97-92 win on December 1 to move them joint top of their group in Americas qualifying.

Turner has kept faith with the same squad that made the trip to San Juan, which includes captain Kentan Facey, star big man Kofi Cockburn and guard Chase Audige, who averaged 15 points in the two games.

He says the players are in great shape heading into their first official home game.

“I think we’re in good shape from a conditioning standpoint. So many of these guys have been with their clubs now for three or four months so if they show up here not in condition, then we’ve got a problem. But we don’t have guys like that,” Turner told the Jamaica Observer.

“We have guys that are really committed to the cause, really dedicated to the sport, to building basketball in the country, and we’re looking forward to having a really fun weekend of reintroducing basketball to Jamaica.”

After being forced to forego hosting duties in November, the team will be able to play on home soil as Jamaica welcomes top-level international basketball for the first time.

Turner is optimistic that the occasion will serve as a boost rather than a burden as they intend to feed off the local crowd’s energy.

“I don’t think it’s going to come with pressure — at least I don’t feel it and I haven’t picked up that feeling from any of our guys. But certainly we hope that there is a home court advantage,” he said.

“We’ve worked really hard to get here and provide this opportunity for Jamaicans to see really high-level basketball so I hope that they’re as excited about seeing it as we are displaying it. So we want to pack the building, we want to get people out here loud and proud and make it really difficult on our opponent.”

Bahamas lost their opening two games against the regional powerhouse Canada but head into this evening’s game as favourites, as they rank a distant eight places above Jamaica in FIBA Americas.

Jamaica pulled off an upset against the fifth-ranked Puerto Ricans last year and while confident, Turner is expecting a tougher challenge.

“In some ways they’re really similar in that both of those teams are really good in transition, both are very athletic with fantastic guards. I think Bahamas is going to change their defence up a little bit more but they’re both really good teams,” he said.

“Bahamas were one game away from making the Olympics in 2024. They lost to Spain, one of the top teams in the world in a really close game so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

A win for Jamaica would move them up to six points in Group B, which would all but confirm their spot in the final round with the top three automatically advancing.

Turner says it would be a huge step in the country’s basketball programme.

“It would mean everything because when we set out on this journey, the goal was to make the World Cup and to make the Olympics so what that does for us is it keeps us in that pipeline and allows us to continue on that journey,” he said. “It also provides more home games for our fans to see over three more windows over the rest of 2026 and 2027. So it just would be a really cool thing if we’re able to come up with a victory over two great opponents.”

Squad: Joel Bailey, Andrew Thelwell, Marcus McDonald, Omari Johnson, Jordan Kellier, Kentan Facey, Romaine Thomas, Chase Audige, Kofi Cockburn, Tyran De Lattibeaudiere, Giovanni Fraser, Romaro Gill

Members of Jamaica’s basketball team in training at the National Indoor Sports Centre on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, ahead of their FIBA World Cup Qualifiers against Bahamas and Canada. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

Members of Jamaica’s basketball team in training at the National Indoor Sports Centre on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, ahead of their FIBA World Cup Qualifiers against Bahamas and Canada. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

Members of Jamaica’s basketball team in training at the National Indoor Sports Centre on Tuesday February 24, 2026, ahead of their FIBA World Cup Qualifiers against Bahamas and Canada. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

Jamaica’s basketball team Head Coach Rick Turner during training on Tuesday, February 24, 2026 at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)