Rain or Shine’s Andrei Caracut. PBA Images

MANILA – Rain or Shine had answers this time for San Miguel.

The Elasto Painters fended off the Beermen, 122-112, in the 2024 PBA Governors’ Cup on Thursday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

They also gained the lead in Group B after securing their seventh win in nine games, while Coach Jorge Gallent’s wards dropped to a 6-3 win-loss card, now tied with Barangay Ginebra.

There were a lot of offensive heroes for Coach Yeng Guiao, led by Andrei Caracut who registered a team-high 20 points and eight assists, while Aaron Fuller dropped 17 points, Beau Belga and Adrian Nocum had 16 each, Gian Mamuyac had 12, and Gabe Norwood also entered twin-digit scoring with 10.

Guiao noted during the postgame interview that Fuller and Belga did well on handling eight-time PBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) June Mar Fajardo, who only had 14 points.

“Nagtulungan lang kami sa depensa. June Mar [Fajardo] is really a handful for us. Aaron [Fuller] did an excellent job just putting a body on June Mar the whole game, dito, si Beau, pinagtulungan nila ‘yung role na ‘yon,” he said.

“I think June Mar really is the key, ‘no. Kapag medyo nababaan mo ‘yung efficiency niya; masyado kasing mataas ang efficency ni June Mar. Whenever he catches around the lane, it’s around 70 percent, so we tried to play the odds,” Guiao added.

“If he’s not touching the ball around that area, we try to deny him touches. Even if he’s touching the ball, we want him [touching it] further away from the basket.”

Although CJ Perez, Terrence Romeo, and Jordan Adams cracked 20-point scoring territory to hold the fort for the Beermen.

The Scores:

RAIN OR SHINE 122 – Caracut 20, fuller 17, Belga 16, Nocum 16, Mamuyac 12, Norwood 10, Lemetti 8, Clarito 7, Santillan 6, Ildefonso 5, Tiongson 3, Asistio 2

SAN MIGUEL 112 – Perez 27, Romeo 24, Adams 24, Fajardo 14, Trollano 6, Cruz 5, Manuel 4, Lassiter 3, Ross 3, Teng 2

QUARTERS: 33-32, 61-59, 97-88, 122-112