TERRENCE Romeo (right) of San Miguel Beer attacks the defense of Rashawn McCarthy during their Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup game in this file photo. Romeo will be back in action after missing two games due to a sprained ankle. CONTRIBUTE PHOTO

San Miguel Beer and Rain or Shine resume their campaigns, looking to get back on the winning track in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup today at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Action kicks off at 7 p.m. with both the Beermen and Elasto Painters looking to bury their bitter setbacks in their recent matches to maintain their spots in the upper half of the team standings.

Prior to that, unbeaten Phoenix Pulse seeks to tighten its hold of the top spot when it collides with Blackwater in the first game at 4:30 p.m.

Despite coming in as heavy favorites after winning the past four All-Filipino titles, the Beermen’s bid in this season-ending conference appears shaky after suffering a heart-breaking loss to Talk ‘N Text, 93-104, that snapped their back-to-back wins.

This development explains why the Beermen are tipped to march to warzone with fire in their eyes in a bid to improve their standing and be in a perfect position to capture their fifth straight title.

The hungry Beermen will also get a lift from temperamental guard Terrence Romeo, who is finally set to return after missing two games due to an ankle sprain.

Five-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo, Christian Standhardinger, Arwind Santos, Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross are tipped to back Romeo, the three-time scoring champion who was let go by the KaTropa in the off-season.

Still, it won’t be a walk in the park for the Beermen.

The Elasto Painters are also coming in with chip on their shoulders after suffering their first loss of the season, a sorry 99-111 defeat to erstwhile winless Blackwater squad.

Rain or Shine head coach Caloy Garcia said they would throw everything at the Beermen even with Romeo finally back on board.

“We’re already expecting that they’re going to come out firing with Romeo,” said Garcia.

“We just have to prepare doubly harder. We all know San Miguel coming off a loss; they will be hungry for sure. We just have to find ways to stick with them until the end and we’ll see from there.”

Good thing for Garcia, he also expects big man Raymond Almazan to regain his hundred percent condition after seeing very limited action in his first game after an ankle sprain injury.

Gabe Norwood, Beau Belga, Maverick Ahanmisi and James Yap, who had a vintage 20-point outing against the Elite two days ago, are tipped to backstop Almazan.