Cebuano big man Kristian Porter delivered the goods as he and Lebron Nieto led the Ateneo de Manila to a 74-65 win over the Doc Boleros-NCR to secure a spot in the Final Four of the 2023 Smart-NBTC National Finals Division 2 on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
A promising big man who’s making waves in the big city, Porter racked up 16 points, seven rebounds, and two steals while Nieto contributed 12 points, six steals, two assists, and two rebounds for Ateneo which swept its group phase assignments to top Pool D.
They entered the tournament as a replacement for San Beda, which begged off from competing in the tournament. However, Ateneo got relegated to Division 2 as they suffered a 41-64 loss to Batang Tiaong-Quezon in the classification stage.
"The first game, we used that as our motivation. After that, we gathered ourselves and played better, played as we should," said Porter, the no. 6-ranked HS player in the Philippines who'll also showcase his skills in the 2023 Under Armour-NBTC All-Star Game.
The Blue Eagles will face off against Team Tarlac on Saturday in the semifinals of this tourney.