LOWHORN BEEFS UP BATANG PIER IN CLASH WITH MIXERS
To fill in a gaping hole in the middle, GlobalPort has signed up former Barangay Ginebra import Dior Lowhorn to take over from Leroy Hickerson.
Lowhorn debuts with the Batang Pier as they tangle with the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers in the PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday night.
“The presence of Dior Lowhorn has put stability on our inside game, helping the team a lot in the rebounding department,” said GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio.
Lowhorn, a wide-bodied 6-foot-5 center/forward, hooks up with the Batang Pier in time for an expected tough grind with Marqus Blakely and the Mixers.
Game time is at 8 p.m.
Stats-wise, Hickerson didn’t do bad as he put in averages of 25 points, 9.67 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals in three games.
However, the Batang Pier have deficiencies that the coaching staff deemed Hickerson may not cover, being more of a two or three guy.
GlobalPort found the need to beef up its frontline with young center Yousef Taha getting injured.
But would Lowhorn really be the import the Batang Pier were looking for?
In his initial tour of duty in the local pro loop, the former Texas Tech and San Francisco U mainstay got the Ginebra Kings only to as far as the quarterfinals in the same conference last year. He ended his Ginebra stint with only four wins against seven losses.
The Mixers are currently at 2-1 while the Batang Pier are at 1-2.
San Mig Coffee shackled Meralco gunners Gary David and Jared Dillinger and unleashed a mighty run in a five-minute stretch bridging the last two quarters to pull off a 108-90 win the last time out.
The Bolts had just come to within two at 67-69 late in the third period before the Mixers scored the next 15 points of the game to break away for good and bounce back from a 90-92 heartbreaker against the San Miguel Beermen.
“One very good character of our team is its ‘bounce-back-ability,’” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone, elated with their response to their loss to San Miguel Beer.
At the same time, Cone expressed disappointment on the infractions committed by Marc Pingris and Rafi Reavis on Meralco center James Sena.
“The first sign of fatigue and tiredness is being pikon. We get a little pikon when fatigue sets in,” Cone said.
The Mixers, however, dished out a well-balanced game that the Bolts just couldn’t match, thus, San Mig won the game with plenty to spare.
The Batang Pier have a job cut out for them against the grand slam-chasing San Mig Coffee team. (SB)
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