Rookies Kristian Porter and Jared Bahay propelled Ateneo de Manila University to a three-game skid-ending win at the expense of National University in a nail-biting ending, 70-68, in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Sunday.
Ahead by just a single point, Kristian Porter came up huge on both ends, first draining a layup plus a foul but he missed his free throw to make it 68-65 for the Blue Eagles with 27.3 seconds left.
Then the first-year big man out of Ateneo High School rejected the layup attempt of Jake Figueroa on the other end with 14 ticks to go.
Ian Espinosa was then put at the line with 12.5 seconds remaining, making the first but missing the second then Jolo Manansala delivered an off-the-bank triple from the top of the key for the Bulldogs, inching within 68-69 with 5.1 ticks left.
They tested Espinosa once again and the result was similar, splitting his charities to give NU one more chance to send the game to overtime or to win it altogether with a three.
But off the timeout, Manansala missed his attempt from the top of the arc to give Ateneo the victory.
“It was enough to get us over the finish line. Very, very satisfying I know for the players that it’s been a tough first half of the season and they’ve stuck together you got to give them credit for that,” said Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin.
The Blue Eagles not only improved their record to 2-6 that formed a three-way tie for sixth to eighth with the Bulldogs and the Far Eastern University Tamaraws but also got their vengeance against NU, which beat them last October 5, 78-68.
Porter ended up with a double-double performance of 14 points and 10 rebounds to go with two steals and two blocks, a huge bounce back from his zero-point, one-rebound game against NU last week.
“My mindset coming to the game was just do my job and help the team no matter how and just play through the system, the points just came, the rebounds. I just trusted my teammates and I wanna put this out here, the Ateneo community. Going out, seeing the whole community no matter our standing, they’re still there for us,” said Porter.
Bahay added 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, and a steal, while Chris Koon also came alive with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Blue Eagles’ frontcourt got thinner as Kyle Ong (ill) and Josh Lazaro (ankle) were not able to play.
Ateneo looks to get a winning run going come Saturday when it battles University of Santo Tomas at the latter’s Quadricentennial Pavilion.
Figueroa led the Bulldogs with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Manansala had 12 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
Steve Nash Enriquez had eight points, all of which he scored during NU’s 10-2 run mid-fourth frame to erase a 51-60 deficit.
NU seeks to regain its winning ways on Wednesday against FEU at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Scores:
Ateneo 70 – Porter 14, Bahay 12, Koon 10, Bongo 9, Tuano 8, Quitevis 5, Edu 5, Espinosa 4, Espina 2, Balogun 1, Reyes 0, Gamber 0.
NU 68 – Figueroa 15, Manansala 12, Enriquez 8, Jumamoy 8, Yu 6, Palacielo 5, Padrones 4, Santiago 4, Garcia 3, Francisco 3, Lim 0, Tulabut 0, Perciano 0, Parks 0, Dela Cruz 0.
Quarterscores: 15-13, 35-31, 50-45, 70-68
