Rookies Porter, Bahay embrace pressure with big-boy games for Blue Eagles

MANILA, Philippines —As the saying goes, pressure creates diamonds. 

Ateneo rookies Kristian Porter and Jared Bahay showed that they are capable of being diamonds as they steered the Blue Eagles to their second victory in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament, nipping the National University Bulldogs, 70-68, last Sunday, October 13.

Porter and Bahay came up big as they led the Blue Eagles in the crucial game to keep their Final Four hopes alive. 

The bruising big man Porter finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals, while the floor general Bahay had 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and a steal. 

Both just 19 years old, the two made huge plays down the stretch to help keep the gutsy Bulldogs at bay. 

With the game going down the wire, timely shots by Porter kept Ateneo ahead. 

While Bahay missed crucial free throws and jumpers down the stretch, and with the Blue Eagles clinging to a one-point lead, 66-65, with less than 30 seconds to go, he found Porter on the roll. The latter then sank a lead-extending bank shot. 

Porter, after the game, said that he embraced the pressure. 

“Pressure is never gonna go away, especially being a rookie, playing heavy minutes but I don't really let it get to my head. Especially coach Tab, all the coaches, and teammates, they put their trust in me,” he told reporters. 

“So, I don't really feel the pressure because I know they're behind me they got my back every game, the Ateneo community so how I handled that pressure was I looked at it to push me beyond my limits,” he added. 

This was echoed by Bahay, who bared that he saw a post on social media that “pressure is a privilege”. 

“Accept ko lang yun na kahit rookies kami, may duties kami sa team. And we're gonna bring this forward to our coming games and we're gonna play it game by game. Well, I'm really thankful to be put in this position,” the guard said. 

The win put the Blue Eagles at 2-6 in the season, just two wins away from the fourth spot occupied by the 4-4 University of Santo Tomas. 

Ateneo earlier finished the first round of competition with a 1-6 record, the worst start of the Tab Baldwin era.

For Porter, the mistakes of the past is an