Braves beef up roster

Cavitex will parade 6-7 center Marion Magat as the Braves put their title bid in motion when the Philippine Basketball Association Third Conference Season 2 reels off today at the Robinson’s Place-Antipolo.

Magat takes the place of Bong Galanza and will team up with the trio of Jorey Napoles, Chester Saldua and Dominick Fajardo as the Braves try to surpass their third-place finish during the opening leg held last week.

Meanwhile, TNT is back in full force as scoring champion Almond Vosotros returns to active duty after a week-long rest.

The 32-year-old guard joins Lervin Flores, Samboy de Leon, and Ping Exciminiano in the roster of the Tropang Giga, who were still good enough to make the semis even in the absence of Vosotros.

Leg 1 winner San Miguel shoots for a back-to-back championship by parading the same quartet of Ken Bono, Leo de Vera, Tonino Gonzaga and Dariel Bayla.

Gonzaga, 34, emerged outright hero in his first stint with the Beermen after scoring six straight points for a 21-17 come-from-behind victory against Pioneer Elastoseal in the opening leg finals to take home the grand prize of P100,000.

As champion, San Miguel heads Pool A and will battle Platinum Karaoke in the opening match of a 12-game schedule in Day 1 of competitions.

Meralco is the other team in Pool A.

Pioneer Elastoseal on the other hand, is on top of Pool B together with Purefoods and Blackwater.

Pool C consists of Cavitex, J&T, and Terrafirma 3x3, while Pool D includes TNT, Barangay Ginebra and NorthPort.

Only eight teams will advance in the knockout stage set Friday, with the grand champion receiving the top purse of P100,000.