Defending champion FR Spoilers and Western Union continued their winning ways after beating separate foes, Sunday in the Filipino Basketball League (FBL) at the Palau National gym.

FR Spoilers showed dominance once again as they toyed with the Ilocandia Bulls, 102-65. After taking a 32-26 lead, the Spoilers team of Michael Bombita, Mark Pagayanan, Coco Gonzales, Leo Sebastian and Francis Tan outscored the Bulls five in the second with a 31-10 output to close the first half with a 62-36 advantage.

Since then, the Spoilers scored at will as they dominated both in the rebound and scoring departments as they went for the win. Bombita led the scoring fray for the Spoilers as he normed 25 points while teammates Pagayanan and Gonzales tallied identical 21 baskets, respectively.

The win placed the Spoilers tied with the Aloha Maid Choppers in the team standings with identical 5-1 win-loss records. Edward Baysa, on the other hand, topscored for the Bulls with 18 as they are 3-2.

Meanwhile, Western Union continues to be unbeaten after their 86-81 win over the Hanpa Cardinals in overtime.

The game was tied at 76-all at the end of the fourth quarter. But Western Union waxed hot in the extra period as they outscored the Cardinals with a 10-5 run to secure the win and remain unbeaten with a 6-0 mark behind the 27 point production of Dennis Castro.

The Cardinals trio of Mac Naguit, Phillip Maniago and Johnson Sicat led the scoring chores with 13, 11 and 10 baskets, respectively. They now sport a 1-5 record.

In other games, Royal Cargo Rangers beat the Rams, 84-56; and Surangel Stars drubbed the PECI Spartans, 106-78.

Games resume on January 26 with the Ilocandia Bulls versus Aloha Maid Choppers at 11 a.m. followed by the Jaguar-Liquid Skyy Dragons match at 12:30 p.m. as Surangel Stars will test the Royal Cargo Rangers at 2 p.m. while PNQ Crushers will face the Rams in the main game at 3:30 p.m.

Sponsors for this year’s season are Aqua Pure Water, ATT Karaoke and Bar, Blue Bay Petroleum, CTSI Palau, Hanpa Industrial Development Corporation, HBO, Kumangai Bakery, Midtown Gas Station, Mingles Tototo, MJ Trading, Palasia Hotel, Palau Pacific Resort, Palau Trading, Pinoy Express Remittance, Shimbros International, Surangel and Sons, The Taj Palau, Palau Curtain, Engr. Bobby Pineda and Western Caroline Trading Company (WCTC).

The Filipino Basketball League (FBL) is under the supervision of the Palau Basketball Federation (PBF).  By Peter Erick L. Magbanua (Island Times News)