Ateneo's Bahay blocks the noise from hostile UP crowd

MANILA, Philippines — Despite being on the receiving end of boos and jeers from the University of the Philippines crowd before their UAAP Season 87 opener, Ateneo Blue Eagles guard Jared Bahay is unfazed.

Bahay committed to play for the Fighting Maroons last year when he was still in senior high school at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu.

But upon finishing his senior high school education, he decommitted from UP this year and decided to play for the Blue Eagles.

He made his UAAP debut on Saturday and faced UP in a Battle of Katipunan clash in the season opener.

Before the game tipped off, whenever he was shown on the jumbotron, the UP crowd booed him while he received loud cheers from the Ateneo side.

After the game, Bahay admitted that he expected that kind of reception from the crowd.

“I kinda expected it. But that’s okay, I’ll be facing that,” Bahay told Philstar.com in Filipino.

“No, it did not affect me,” he added.

Bahay led Ateneo in scoring with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists in 20 minutes and 28 seconds of play.

However, he shot 3-of-11 from the field, good for 27.3%. He made just 1-of-4 from 2-point territory and 2-of-7 from 3-point area.

He missed just one of his six free throw attempts.

UP guard JD Cagulangan, for his part, said that he felt bad for Bahay amid the showering of boos.

“First of all, I feel bad for Jared because when his face showed up on the screen, other fans booed him and it was a bad start to his UAAP career. Me, I had nothing against Jared even if he plays for another school,” Cagulangan said.

“What I want him to know is the team of UP, we do not have problems with him. I am happy for him that he debuted in the UAAP well and hopefully, the fans who booed Jared, I hope they stop because it’s bad. He just entered and that happened,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bahay said that he just faced the challenge of making his debut in the UAAP head-on, and he did not worry about his game.

“As I said, I didn’t worry about my game. I just focused on what the coaches gave me and what the team needed, and that was the product of focus and following the game plan,” the 19-year-old said.

“For me, I just treated it as a normal game, not a big game. Because if you get carried away, it will be difficult.”

Going forward, he said that he wants to work on his conditioning as he battled cramps in the game.

Ateneo will be facing the UST Growling Tigers next on Wednesday, 6:30 p.m., at the same venue.