ELGIN, Ill. - Trinity International reached the century mark for the third time this season, jumping out to a big first-half lead and controlling the game from start to finish in a 101-74 win over the Judson Eagles on Monday night.
Box Score | Season StatsJunior forward
Grant Corsi led the Trojans (6-2, 1-1 CCAC) for the second straight game, with 19 points, as five players finished in double figures. Trinity opened the night with a
James Glass putback off an offensive rebound, and
Zach Kirschbaum put TIU ahead 5-2 two possessions later. Trinity would hold that lead the rest of the night to secure their first win in CCAC play this year.
Trinity's lead would grow throughout the rest of the first half, with Glass putting the Trojans up by double-digits with a layup at the 13:22 mark. Back-to-back three-pointers from
Jeremy Carlyle with four minutes to play in the half highlighted a 10-0 run for the visitors, pushing the Trojan advantage to 22 points, at 52-30. The Trojans then closed out the half with the eight unanswered points over the final 1:37 to claim a 60-35 lead at the break.
Midway through the second half,
Henry French would briefly give TIU their biggest lead of the night, at 86-51, with one of his five field goals on the night with 10:33 remaining. Judson (6-4, 0-3 CCAC) would cut into the deficit, but never climb back to within 20 points the rest of the night.
"Tonight was a great step in the evolution of our program," said TIU head coach
Boomer Roberts. "I'm so proud of our group for our performance. Judson is much better than they played tonight, but a lot of that was because of how we played. We were the aggressors on both ends, which we need to be every night."
Glass finished with 16 points in the win, going 8-for-11 from the field, while Kirschbaum collected 11 points and seven rebounds.
Luke Mead came off the bench for a career-high 14 points, including a 7-for-8 performance from the free throw line. French posted 11 points along with a team-best eight rebounds.
"Grant [Corsi] got us going early, and then our posts made plays both scoring, and kicking for open looks. Our bench was terrific tonight, in both energy and production," said Roberts. "Having played seven games in 13 days, we really need time to rest and get healthy, but with a great trip ahead of us, I couldn't be more excited about the direction of our program."
The Trojans will now spend the rest of Thanksgiving week in Costa Mesa, California, to compete in the Vanguard University Thanksgiving Classic. Trinity will tip off against Benedictine (Ariz.) on Friday afternoon, November 27, then face San Diego Christian on Saturday, November 28.