Tournament darkhorse MJ Rangers held their ground as they stunned Western Union, 84-82 in overtime at the start of the semifinal round of the 2012 Filipino Basketball League (FBL), Sunday at the Palau National gym.

Down 75-78 in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, the duo of Rogelio Fernandez and Nico Hinoza took over the scoring chores as they managed to tie the game at 78-all and send the match into over time.

In over time, both squads displayed pressure defense but the Rangers came out with a 6-4 output that gave them the win and a 1-0 win-loss record in the round robin semis format. Hinoza finished the game with 24 points and was backed by big man Jay Naguit who added 21.

Rookie Nino Cajgas topscored for Western Union with 22 while top gunner Dennis Castro chipped in 19 on the losing end.

On the other hand, defending champion FR Spoilers showed its dominance as they defeated Surangel and Sons, 124-95 as the duo of Michael Bombita and Coco Gonzales finished with 30 and 22 baskets, respectively.

Games will resume on October 14 with FR Spoilers versus MJ Rangers at 1 p.m. while Western Union will face Surangel and Sons in the main game at 2:30 p.m.

The semifinal round will follow a single round robin format with the top two squads moving on to the championship round, which will be a best of three series, while the lower two teams will vie for the consolation game.  By Peter Erick L. Magbanua (Island Times News)