Court Battle Looms for Brothers in Lions Game

It will be brother against brother Saturday when Loyola Marymount plays a conference basketball game at the University of Portland.

Portland is off to a disastrous start at 1-14, but one of the Pilots’ bright spots has been the play of guard Josh Lowery, its leading scorer. The Lions have freshman Terrell Lowery, a backup point guard of great promise and the Portland star’s younger brother.

When they face off, Terrell Lowery said, it will continue a lifelong rivalry. Josh is three years older. Growing up in Oakland, Terrell said, “we played against each other all the time.”

Josh, a 6-3 redshirt junior who transferred out of San Diego State, is the only Pilot averaging double figures, scoring 14.5 points per game. He’s not shy about putting it up. “He’s more of a flat-out shooter,” said Terrell, a combination point and shooting guard. “He’ll pass it, but he’d rather shoot.”

Terrell, 6-1 1/2, is averaging 5.8 points and plays sporadically in Coach Paul Westhead’s rotation but has had good games, with a high of 18 against U.S. International.

Josh is highly regarded as a baseball shortstop and has been drafted twice by the Cleveland Indians, after high school and again last year. Terrell favors basketball. “We’re different types of people,” Terrell said. “I liked to do different things. I played second base, he played shortstop. He played baseball in the summer. I didn’t.”

Until now, Terrell has been following his older brother. On Saturday, they finally end up on equal footing.

Lowery isn’t the only Loyola player with a talented brother in the same sport. Lions star Hank Gathers doesn’t have to go far to check out brother Derrick, who is having an outstanding year at Cal State Northridge.

Derrick, a 6-3 guard, leads the Matadors and is among California Collegiate Athletic Conference scoring leaders with an 18.5 average. Hank, elder by 10 months, often played on teams with his brother in their native Philadelphia and would have dearly loved to see him in a Loyola uniform. Derrick played at Santa Monica City College last year.

“He’s a very good player. He’s a very good three-point shooter (35 for 81 this season). He could certainly play here,” said Hank, whose exploits have tended to overshadow Derrick. Hank leads the NCAA in scoring and rebounding, but the 6-7 forward said he hates to have to play against Derrick: “He’s one of the best defensive players I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t want him sticking me. He’s like (Oklahoma star) Mookie Blaylock--he’s everywhere.”

Who would win a duel of Lowery brothers versus the Gathers? “We’d win,” Terrell Lowery said somewhat uncertainly.

Hank Gathers laughed and said: “I don’t think it would be much of a comparison. We’d just post ‘em up.”

After a shooting slump that stretched through several games, Loyola guard Jeff Fryer shot the lights out against DePaul last Saturday. His 42 points tied him with Greg Goorjian for most points scored by a Loyola guard. It’s also the third-highest total in a Loyola game. His performance earned him West Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week.

Fryer, who has been the focus of opposing defenses lately and entered the game shooting less than 40%, hit nine of 14 shots from three-point range and 13 of 22 overall. Several of his baskets came from beyond the NBA stripe in Rosemont Horizon, legitimate 25-footers. One time, when Fryer was near the DePaul bench, Blue Demons Coach Joey Meyer told him, “Open your eyes.”

It’s the second time Fryer set a personal best on national television. He scored 28 points in the final game last season against North Carolina. Each time, on CBS-TV, Fryer was the Chevrolet player of the game in a losing cause, which Coach Paul Westhead humorously noted:

“Fryer’s got two Chevies in the garage now. I just wish we’d win a game.” (Players don’t actually get a gift. Chevrolet makes a donation to the school in their name.)

Streak Starter: It may just be coincidence, but since Kevin Shaw’s insertion into the Cal State Dominguez Hills starting basketball lineup, the Toros had not lost going into Thursday’s game against UC Riverside. Shaw, a forward who has spent most of the last two seasons on the bench awaiting his chance, has played more minutes in the last five games than in his previous two years. The defense-minded 6-3 junior has averaged three points and four rebounds a game since he became a starter. Shaw got his chance when Kenyatta Kalisana went out with a knee injury.

The NCAA made several more entries into the record book after Loyola Marymount’s recent 162-144 victory over U.S. International. Along with the Lions producing the first 90-point half in NCAA history (93) and the teams combining for the most total points (306), the game set marks for:

-Most players on one team with 30 or more points: three (Loyola--Hank Gathers 40, Enoch Simmons 38, Jeff Fryer 30).

-Most total players with 30 or more points: five (USIU’s Gary Williams had 40, Demetrius Laffitte 34.

-Most shots taken in a game: 245 (Loyola 124, USIU 121);

-Most points ever against a Division I team (Loyola’s 162. Loyola and Nevada-Las Vegas have scored 164 against non-Division I opponents);

-Most points ever by a losing team (USIU’s 144, erasing old mark of 142 set by Utah State in triple overtime.

The NCAA was also happy to report that the new records eliminated the need, in several cases, to distinguish between overtime and regulation.

Erasers are being kept handy. The teams meet again Jan. 31 at Loyola.

College Notes

Dominguez Hills point guard Robert Barksdale has averaged 16.3 points and five assists and shot 52% in his last eight games. In that streak, the sophomore has made 12 of 23 shots from three-point range, 26 of 30 free throws and has committed only 11 turnovers . . . Loyola is the only basketball team to score more than 100 points against DePaul in Joey Meyer’s five years as head coach. The Lions have done it twice this season--and lost both games . . . With 1,105 career points, Enoch Simmons is five points away from moving into the 13th spot on Loyola’s career scoring list. With 288 points this season, Simmons has topped his previous season high.