US five bounces back, rips Hapee

USA-Bingo Bonanza proved too much for Hapee Toothpaste, showing the way with a 103-76 victory yesterday in the PBL RP-USA Goodwill Series at the San Juan Gym.

Six-foot-five Will Levy powered the Americans with 22 points, 12 rebounds and two assists to bounce back from a 84-89 setback to the RP Team Saturday night.

Brando Payton added 19 points, 10 assists and two rebounds but it was Gary Di Grazia who set the tone for the one-sided affair delivering 10 of his 15 points in the first quarter alone.

Di Grazia inspired the 7-0 start and controlled the tempo from thereon. From a 29-12 first quarter margin, the Americans stretched it to 55-34 at the half.

The Teeth Sparklers sorely missed the services of Eugene Tan and scoring machine Peter June Simon, and even Cyrus Baguio, who pivoted the RP National’s victory with 18 points was downsized to just 11 points and five rebounds.

The closest Hapee could get to was at 45-62, barely three minutes gone in the second half before Levy and Payton turned hot and pegged USA-Bingo Bonanza’s biggest lead at 27, 88-61, 5:37 left in the game.

Hapee Toothpaste slightly dominated the boards, 43-42, and earned 12 points on offensive rebounds.

But USA-Bingo Bonanza capitalized on their fastbreak game that netted 37 points aside from translating the rivals’ 30 turnovers into 27 points.

Former Detergent King Francis Machica and Alvin Stephenson chipped in 14 and 11 points respectively for USA-Bingo Bonanza.

Nino Gelig topped Hapee Toothpaste with 17 points while Alwyin Espiritu added 13 points and seven