JB Bahio couldn’t be any happier that his hard work paid off so sweetly after knocking down his first-ever PBA career game-winner, Wednesday night.
The versatile forward drilled one from the perimeter with three-tenths of a second left, towing NLEX to a pulsating 92-90 come-from-behind victory over Rain or Shine before an appreciative crowd at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Making it all the more memorable was that he pulled it off in a high-stakes affair, eventually enabling the Road Warriors to snatch the lead of the conference standings away from the Elasto Painters, who held it for several weeks.
“Sobrang saya, sobrang sarap ng feeling,” he expressed.
“Nagbunga din ‘yung tinrabaho ko araw-araw sa practice–‘yung extra shots, extra skill work.”
Bahio, of course, basked in the cheers and adoration of his teammates as his heroics helped the MVP ball club to win at the death, just like what they did to hack out a 104-101 overtime victory against Meralco last April 17.
But the former San Beda standout, even if he deserved all the spotlight, wouldn’t do so as he gave flowers to their main man in Robert Bolick, who’s actually in the center of the two times they won a bout at the final buzzer.
It could be recalled that the star guard deferred to L-Jay Gonzales for the final shot against the Bolts, and the rookie delivered as he nailed the three at the horn.
Twelve nights later, and he’d pulled off the exact same decision, this time with his former Red Lions teammate as the recipient in yet another display of his willingness to pass the ball even though he could deliver in the clutch himself.
Thus, the immense gratitude on the part of Bahio to have somebody around them like Bolick, who delivered a big shot during their comeback by hitting a four with the shot clock winding down for the brief 90-87 lead with 1:19 left.
“Isa lang masasabi ko: Sobrang swerte namin,” he said. “Parang pinapagaling niya lahat; lahat ng teammate niya, pinapagana niya.
“Alam niya kung ano yung strength namin, yung mga sweet spots namin. Hinahanap niya kami,” the 27-year-old guard from Cebu added.
“Sobrang galing, sobrang talino. Kaya sobrang swerte namin na naging teammate siya.”
More than the game-winner itself, Bahio felt prouder of the fight they showed as a collective, as NLEX rallied back from as much as 14 down.
“Sadyang hindi lang kami nag-give up,” said the third round pick of Terrafirma in the 2023 Draft, who had nine points and seven rebounds.
“Laban lang talaga.”
