Bottom 4 in ho-hum NCAA tiffs today

MANILA, Philippines—At least, one school will see the end of its losing streak.   Sputtering squads St. Benilde and Perpetual Help clash on the penultimate first-round playdate of the 86th NCAA men’s basketball tournament Monday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.   The Blazers and the Altas collide at 4 p.m., after the clash between Letran and Emilio Aguinaldo College at 2 p.m.   Perpetual Help hasn’t posted a win in the NCAA in over a year and is on a 16-game losing skid. It last won on Aug. 13 last year when it bested EAC, 86-79.   Like the Altas, the Blazers are also out to end a six-game skid that include an 87-61 drubbing from San Beda last Wednesday.   Without a solid go-to guy at crunchtime, Letran has struggled to pile up the wins this season in the wake of the departure of standouts Rey Guevarra and RJ Jazul.   The Knights, tied for sixth with EAC at 2-5, are in danger of missing out on the Final Four for the first time in seven years.   The Generals, meanwhile, are slowly creeping back to contention with a second win in three games coming at the expense of Perpetual Help, 78-66, last week.   “Our main goal is to go into the second round with motivation,” said EAC mentor Nomar Isla, who hopes that his team’s display of fighting spirit against Jose Rizal U will come out against the Knights.   The Generals dragged the heavily favored Bombers to overtime before eventually losing steam in a 70-74 loss.   Letran is eager to bounce back from a 76-78 defeat to Arellano last Friday.