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The
first Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Ateneo-De
La Salle exhibition game ended in a stalemate as the
match was completed with the score tied at 90 Sunday
night at the Araneta Coliseum.
In
noncompetitive games, no extra period is usually played
to decide the winner.
Larry
Fonacier, who was recently acquired by Alaska, missed
the potential game-winner from top of the key to close
the exhibition match, which was established to assist
the PBA Players Trust Fund.
All’s well
Red Bull
teammates Rich Alvarez and Carlo Sharma show each other
some love before the hostilities get under way in the
first Philippine Basketball Association Ateneo-De La
Salle Showdown on Easter Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Alvarez is an Ateneo alumnus, while Sharma was a De La
Salle varsity player.
--Nonoy Lacza
“The
battle for bragging rights was not resolved. We
certainly welcome another game, more so if it’s for a
cause,” said PBA chairman Tony Chua.
Rico
Villanueva of Magnolia finished with 24 points to lead
Ateneo, while Carlo Sharma of Red Bull had 15 to pace De
La Salle.
The
game, backed by the PBA and television giant ABS-CBN,
was closely fought as expected, as the rival schools
exchanged baskets in the last four minutes.
In the
homestretch, Wesley Gonzales of Magnolia split his
charities to give the Eagles a 90-88 lead with less than
27 seconds left in the game.
Mike
Cortez, a recent Magnolia acquisition, completed his own
charity trip to peg the final score.
The Blue
Eagles started the game with Fonacier, Gonzales,
Villanueva, Alaska’s LA Tenorio and Air21’s Doug Kramer,
while the Green Archers used Cortez, Sharma, Magnolia’s
Willy Wilson and Talk ’N Text teammates Mac-Mac Cardona
and Don Allado. |
