Della Mirandola's 41 Not Enough as 15th Century AD Falls to 1st

Jerusalem—Pico Della Mirandola had said he could beat anyone on the planet in a game of one-on-one, and today Lorenzo de Medici, his coach, tried to implement the trash-talk as a strategy.

The 15th Century spent most of the game running various clearouts and isolation plays for Della Mirandola, and the humanist delivered, scoring a career-high 41 points on a series of fadeaways and drives to the basket. He also finished with 2 steals but no assists and 5 turnovers.

In the end, however, the unorthodox tactics weren’t enough as the 1st Century AD prevailed over the 15th 85-82.

Balance was the name of the game for the winners, with 5 players scoring in double figures, led by Philo of Alexandria and Lucan with 14 apiece. The 1st Century also recorded a remarkable 25 assists on 29 field goals made.

“I’ve had a lot of success in this arena, so I came in confident, and I think that really rubbed off on my players,” said 1st Century head coach Vespasian.

They had no answer for the Prince of Concord, however, and the game remained hotly contested down to the last second.

With the 15th Century down 82-80 and 12 seconds to play, a long two from Della Mirandola rimmed out, only to be tipped in by Gabriel Biel, who had played poorly and battled foul trouble all night, to tie the game.

The 1st Century immediately inbounded the ball and called timeout once they had crossed half court. After the timeout, with less than 3 seconds to play, Seneca curled off a screen from Josephus, took the inbounds pass, and drained a three.

“O holy simplicity!” exclaimed 15th Century forward Jan Hus as the shot went through an almost unmoved net.

A half-court heave from Nicolas of Cusa soared over the backboard and the game was sealed for the representatives of the Roman Empire.

Players of the Game
1st Century AD: Seneca 11 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds
15th Century AD: Pico Della Mirandola 41 points, 2 steals