MANILA, Philippines - Emilio Aguinaldo and St. Benilde hope to end their first round campaign in joint fourth with Lyceum as they slug it out today even as Arellano U and Perpetual Help clash in a duel of struggling teams in the 87th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.
The Generals and the Blazers are bunched with the idle Jose Rizal Bombers at No. 5 with 3-5 (win-loss) slates with the winner in the 2 p.m. match catching up with the Pirates in the Magic Four.
Unbeaten San Beda and San Sebastian are way ahead of the field with 8-0 records while Letran totes a 6-2 mark for third.
The Chiefs, second to last with a 2-6 slate, and the Altas, at the bottom with a 1-7 card, tangle at 4 p.m, each trying to keep their flickering hopes alive going to the second round elims.
The Generals and the Blazers are both coming off a pair of sorry losses with the former bowing to the Knights, 67-76, and the latter dropping a 60-64 to the Chiefs.
“We’re not yet out of it but we want to go into the second round inside the top four,” said EAC coach Gerry Esplana.
“We have lost close games but I feel we’re still on target and it would be nice if we could close out the first round with a win,” said St. Benilde mentor Richard del Rosario.