MANILA, Philippines—Two players returning from injuries—Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Rico Maierhofer—may see action when Ateneo and La Salle alumni in the PBA square off in the “Blue vs Green: Dream Game” at Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
Al-Hussaini, last season’s Rookie of the Year and a former MVP with the Eagles, has been cleared to play after recovering from an ACL injury.
Maierhofer, the high-leaping Barangay Ginebra forward who powered La Salle to the UAAP title in 2007, may also see action under coach Franz Pumaren.
The 6 p.m. game, to be aired live on AKTV, will be the first exhibition encounter pitting the pro stars from college basketball’s fiercest rivals since 2008, when the standouts from the two schools battled to a 90-90 tie.
“The players are quite excited,” said Pumaren, who steered La Salle to four straight UAAP titles from 1998-2001.
In Tuesday’s PSA Forum, Black shrugged off the notion that his squad will pull its punches in the game.
“It’s going to be fun, and yet competitive,” Black, who piloted Ateneo to four straight UAAP titles from 2008, said during the forum presented by Smart, Pagcor and Shakey’s. “This game will be a reunion for most of these players.”
Kerwin Yu of Mastermind Entertainment and Rose Montreal of the PBA properties said the game will benefit cancer patients of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center and the PBA Trust Fund.