13th Century Edges 6th

Athens--In a matchup of two conference champions it was a war of attrition the 6th Century couldn’t win as the 13th Century’s revolving door front line of Thomas Aquinas, Albertus Magnus, and Duns Scotus took its toll on the undermanned representatives of the Early Middle Ages and carried the mendicants and scholastics to a 60-55 victory. It was a hard-fought battle, and many players were visibly exhausted by the end.

“There was the same sort of excitement as in some of our regular season games but just on a whole different scale,” said Duns Scotus, who finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds for the victors.

The aggressive and methodical play of the 13th Century bore fruit early as both Boethius and Gregory the Great, the two leading scorers for the 6th Century, had picked up their second fouls by the 12 minute mark of the first half. “We came in looking to run,” said head-coach Justinian. “But without Greg in there to pull down defensive boards, we really couldn’t get into our transition game.”

Nonetheless, the 13th Century was unable to pull away, due in part to their own offensive woes, and in part to the hot shooting of Cassiodorus, who scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half, and their lead was only 32-25 at the half.

Boethius, saddled with foul trouble for most of the first half, came out shooting in the second and it began to look as though there was no one on the court who could stop him as the 6th Century pulled out to a 5 point lead midway through the half.

“He’s got an elegance out there on the court that we had trouble matching,” said Albertus Magnus, who was primarily charged with defending the poet and philosopher.

As the game moved to a close, however, the 13th Century’s physical style of play came through for them as Thomas Aquinas main repeated trips to the free throw line, where he was 8 for 11.

The 13th Century took the lead for good at the 2:21 mark on jumper from Bonaventure which made the score 53-51, and Boethius was unable to find his shot in the closing minutes as the game slipped away.

“Since it was Dame Fortune who had given us all our successes, it is only fitting that she should take them away,” he said afterwards.

Players of the Game
6th Century AD: Boethius 23 points, 8 rebounds
13th Century AD: Thomas Aquinas 14 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks