It was a tie for former Ateneo and La Salle hard court heroes when their pro-products met head on at an exciting charity showdown at the Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.

The score was chalked at 90-all.

It was a thrilling ride for both teams as Ateneo stalked arch rival La Salle for the first three quarters.

They went on a striking distance and even led at the fourth quarter at 90-88.

Archer Mike Cortez, however, was the saving grace for La Salle as he capped the game even with two charity shots.

At the first quarter, La Salle immediately went down to business with Ren Ren Ritualo and Don Allado leading the scoring spree. The quarter ended in favor of the Archers, 27-24.

Ateneo fought back at the second quarter with Enrico Villanueva leading the charge. The Eagles remained trailing at the end of the first half, 44-40.

Archers Allado and Joseph Yeo led the pack as La Salle continued to dominate in the third quarter with. The Eagles was even down by 12 points before ending the quarter behind La Salle, 67-61.

The fourth quarter turned into a mad scramble between both teams when the Eagles sprang back to life to tie with the Archers 84 all with 1:32 minutes remaining.

The lead went back and fourth with Ateneo and La Salle exchanging clutch baskets and charity points to seal the game 90-all.

The game was closed after four quarters since it was a charity game.

The starters for Ateneo's side were Villanueva, Gonzales, Doug Kramer, Larry Fonacier and LA Tenorio. The rest of the squad includes Gec Chia, JC Intal, Rich Alvarez, Magnum Membrere, Olsen Racela, Paolo Bugia, and Macky Escalona.

The first five for De La Salle's side were Allado Willie Wilson, Mike Cortez, Macmac Cardona and Carlo Sharma. Adding fire power were Ritualo, Yeo, Junjun Cabatu, Mark Telan, Adonis Sta. Maria, Jay-R Aquino, Ryan Arana.

PBA Players’ Educational Trust Fund

The benefit game was conceptualized by Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner Sonny Barrios and the Board of Governors with the project's proceeds going directly to the PBA Players’ Educational Trust Fund (ETF).

The fund, which handles the tuition of the children of former PBA players, is more important now after some basketball celebrities got embroiled in another investor scam.

The Ateneo-La Salle game could also be the first of a series of benefit games according to the PBA.

"We may also pit in the future other basketball rivalries like Letran-San Beda, Ateneo-San Beda, Letran-San Sebastian, UST-UE, FEU-La Salle and others," said PBA operations and technical chief Rickie Santos.