Boys Basketball: Cliff Alexander ignites Curie victory

Updated: February 6, 2012 7:40PM

Curie is no stranger to reach the 20-win plateau in a season. The Condors have done it again for the 10th consecutive season on Sunday after defeating Leo 60-46 in the Ronald “Chops” Billinger Memorial Shootout at North Park University.

“It was our goal all year long to get that win,” Curie coach Mike Oliver said. “I’m proud of the guys keeping up the tradition of winning.”

However, it wasn’t a typical game expected for Curie (20-1), which didn’t shoot well (37 percent from the field) and was 2-for-21 from three-point range.

“We were kind of relaxed and sluggish,” Oliver said,” We were looking for a mini-vacation, because its our last game of the regular season. Now we wait to see what happens in the city playoffs. We don’t value the points, but we’ll take the win.”

Sophomore center Cliff Alexander led the Condors with 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. Devin Foster and Joshua Batson added 13 points apiece.

“I just wanted to get more into the game,” said Alexander, who had three dunks in the final quarter. “We do have a lot of support from a number of players who can score on the team.”

Curie broke away from Leo (11-11) late in the opening quarter after the game was tied at 11-11.

The Condors scored four straight points off of turnovers for a 15-11 lead.

Then, Curie ripped off a 9-2 run for a 24-13 advantage that was capped by Batson’s steal and layup.

Curie held a 32-23 lead into the second half and 45-36 margin into the final quarter.

Leo tried to cut into the Curie lead and pulled within seven on a couple of occasions in the fourth quarter.

Russell Woods scored six of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, including a dunk that made the score 49-42 with 4:37 left.

But, the Lions couldn’t get any closer the rest of the way.

“We battled out there,” Leo coach Noah Cannon said. “Curie has only lost one game and they play hard. We had opportunities to bring the score closer, but we couldn’t do it.

“It was more like the inexperience that got to us.”

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