City of Basketball Love

Danny Holdsman (@DHoldsman)
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Saturday night’s finale of The Basketball Tournament action was perhaps the most anticipated game of the eight that had been played on the day. Spectators packed the Philadelphia University Gallagher Center to witness the matchup of former City Six players. In the end, the North Broad Street Bullies (former Temple Owls) bested 20th and Olney (La Salle alums) by a score of 90-76.

However, Owls players can’t take full credit for the win.

The Bullies received contributions from three non-Temple grads. Two of whom, Peter Alexis and Christian Burns, actually had true homecourt advantage.

“It’s fantastic,” Burns, an ‘07 graduate of Philly U, said. “It’s a great feeling to be back on the hardwood here, the Herb Magee Court.”

Alexis hasn’t had the same time away from the court as Burns. In fact, he is only two months removed from being a student at the university. The 7-foot center did notice one major difference between Saturday’s contest and his games this past winter as a Ram.

“I thought it was a little louder for the other team tonight, which was a little weird,” Alexis noted.

The La Salle-dominated crowd, which was initially very noisy, was quieted by numerous daggers from from Temple guards Khalif Wyatt and Ramone Moore. The contest stayed heated throughout and even featured multiple technical fouls, before 20th and Olney’s seven-man squad was eventually plagued with foul trouble and lack of depth.

“I definitely felt the heat of the rivalry,” Alexis said. “You could tell it was head-to-head. Guys were talking the whole game. Nobody wanted to lose.”

Burns’ scoring and rebounding production proved to be essential in the win. His teammates definitely welcomed his contributions, considering he wasn’t even supposed to be on the team.

“I was supposed to be on Pearl Washington’s team, and they didn’t make the tournament. [N. Broad St. GM Brandon Forman] picked me up immediately after that,” Burns said with a grin.

This isn’t the first time that Burns has had success on that court. In his illustrious senior season, Burns averaged  21.7 points and 11.2 boards per game. His achievements are highlighted by the banner that hangs in the rafters proclaiming that he was the ECAC Division II Player of the Year in 2007.

Burns spent the most recent season of his nine-year professional career playing for Al Wasl Dubai in the first division of the United Arab Emirates league. He is currently a free agent but expects to sign with a club in the upcoming weeks.

Alexis has less certainty about his future.

“I just got done playing a pro camp,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll hear back from that in a couple of weeks and see where I’m going.”

The hard-working big man is likely to find a niche somewhere overseas in the near future.

Before they look toward next season, Alexis, Burns, and the rest of the Bullies have to set their sights on the round of 32; and it won’t be an easy one. They will square off against a Boeheim’s Army team loaded with mostly Syracuse University alumni. The squad that features former Orange stars like Hakim Warrick, Brandon Triche, and CJ Fair looked dominant Saturday night in their opening-round win over Basketball City.

“They’re a lot bigger and more athletic,” Alexis said. “We’ll see what we can do. We have a good team. We’re going to win with our defense, so that’s what we have to focus on.”

Burns kept it simple:

“I think we can beat anybody if we play well enough.”

We’ll see if the Ram and Owl products are capable of pulling the upset at 4:15 on Sunday in what is sure to be a Gallagher Center packed with Syracuse supporters.