By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The San Miguel Beermen and the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots have strengthened their rosters further ahead of the 2023-2024 PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals.

The Beermen activated veteran forward Vic Manuel as their 15th player heading into the playoffs to bolster the already talented frontline of the squad, led by June Mar Fajardo and Moala Tautuaa.

This will be Manuel’s first time to be inserted in the active roster this conference after being sidelined due to arthroscopic knee surgery he underwent before the start of the conference last November.

The Beermen are currently one of the hottest teams in the tournament, winning their last five matches to end the elimination round as the no. 3 seed team with eight wins and three losses.

Entering the quarterfinals round, the Beermen are armed with a twice-to-beat advantage against the no. 7 ranked Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, which is on a six-game winning run.

Just like the Beermen, their sister team Hotshots also added offense to their 15-man roster by reactivating three-point gunner Jerrick Ahanmisi in lieu of seldomly-used winger David Murrell.

Ahanmisi was relegated to the reserve list by the Hotshots in the latter part of the elimination round after head coach Chito Victolero activated veteran winger Calvin Abueva.

The reactivation of the former Adamson University Falcons gunner adds shooting and depth to the Magnolia backcourt led by the trio of Paul Lee, Mark Barroca and Jio Jalalon.

The Hotshots had a dominant elimination round campaign, winning nine of their 11 matches.

But the top-seeded team will enter the quarterfinals round coming off a loss to the Meralco Bolts.

Regardless, Magnolia still has a twice-to-beat advantage over the no. 8 seed TNT Tropang Giga, which is reinforced with the entry of Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson and the return of Roger Pogoy and Jayson Castro./ASC, WDJ