Ginebra spoils Caracut's career scoring night, repels winless Rain or Shine

MANILA, Philippines -- The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings weathered the career game of Andrei Caracut, sending the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to their fourth straight defeat, 107-102, in the PBA Commissioner's Cup Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Caracut exploded for a career-high 32 points, but it was not enough to give the Elasto Painters their first win of the conference.

Rain or Shine trailed by six, 94-100, within the game’s last two minutes after a Japeth Aguilar layup.

Caracut’s free throws on the other end, however, cut the lead to just four.

Following a miss by Mav Ahanmisi, Santi Santillan hit a booming 3-pointer for the Elasto Painters to turn the game to a one-point contest, 99-100, with 1:06 left.

Ahanmisi, however, answered with a trey of his own to give the Gin Kings a 103-99 cushion.

After a miss from rainbow country by Rain or Shine import Dajuan Summers, Ahanmisi assisted to a jumper by Christian Standhardinger for the dagger with 29 seconds remaining, 105-99.

Caracut, however, tried to get his team closer with a 3-pointer, 105-102, with 24 seconds left.

Summers stole the ball on the other end, but Gabe Norwood missed a jumper that would have cut the lead anew to one.

A layup by Standhardinger slammed the door on the Elasto Painters and set the final score.

Ginebra import Tony Bishop had another stellar outing, finishing with 25 points and 12 boards.

Ahanmisi, for his part, finished with a near triple-double with 21 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.

Caracut’s shot 11-of-17 from the field for Rain or Shine.

Summers followed suit with 25 points, 12 boards, two steals and a block.

Rain or Shine dropped to the bottom of the standings with a 0-4 slate.

For its part, Ginebra bounced back from a tough loss against rival Magnolia and is now at 2-1 for the season.