Dante Takes Command in a Nail-Biter

Many people believe Dante to be the best player in the tournament, and he proved why once again, scoring all 12 of his team's points in overtime as the 14th Century AD took an 87-85 victory over the 19th century.

The entire game was a war between Dante and and his equally versatile counterpart, Goethe. There were stretches for each player where it seemed as though nothing could stop them from getting to the rim.

“I really think he must have sold his soul,” Goethe said afterwards of Dante.

Early in the game, 19th Century starting center Hegel injured himself and had to be taken out after slipping on a damp spot on the floor and severely bruising his elbow. He was replaced for much of the game by John Henry Newman, who during the middle of the season had been benched by coach Bismark in rather mysterious circumstances (it was rumored that Bismark simply didn’t like him). Karl Marx also fouled out of the game late in the second half. Afterwards, he complained that the refs had it out for him and that he would never play in “such a corrupt and degenerate tournament as this one.”

Despite these blows to the 19th Century, the 14th century still needed a bit of a miracle just to get to overtime. Down 75-73 with only 25 seconds to go after a jump-shot from Tolstoy, the ball was in Dante's hands and it seemed inevitable that he would take the last shot. However, as the clock was winding down, Julian of Norwich somehow slipped behind the defense and Dante found her for a resounding alley-oop with only 4 seconds left on the clock.

"A lot of people don't know about our Julian," said 14th Century head coach Edward the Black Prince. "But she's got it."

Dante's domination of the overtime period really took his performance to another level as he was 5-5 from the floor with two dagger 3s in the final minute. It seemed that Goethe, who had matched the Florentine seemingly point-for-point the whole game, had lost some of the spring in his legs. Dante seemed to be able to drive by him almost at will, and the German did not score in the extra period.

“It was like someone was leading me by the hand to the rim,” said Dante.

Players of the Game
14th century AD: Dante Alighieri – 35 points, 6 assists.
19th century AD: Johann Wolfgang Goethe – 29 points, 8 assists.