Quick Notes

• The CCAC season begins this week, with Trinity International paying a visit to 22nd-ranked St. Xavier on Wednesday night.
• All eight games of the Trojan Classic will be streamed online, at TIUTrojans.com/LIVE
• The Trojans have started the season with a 5-1 record for the second straight year, winning five straight after dropping the season opener to Andrews (Mich.) on Oct. 28.
• Trinity boasts the highest scoring offense in the CCAC in the early season, averaging 98.8 points per game. Defensively, the Trojans rank fifth in the league, allowing 74.8 points per contest.
• St. Xavier has averaged 77.6 points through five games this season, the 10th-highest average in the CCAC. The Cougars have allowed 90.0 points per game, ranking as the 12th-best defense in the league.
• Senior forward Zach Kirschbaum is the team's leading scorer and rebounder, with 16.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per game.
• Kirschbaum has posted four double-doubles over the first six games of the season, most in the CCAC. His rebounding average also tops the conference.
• Grant Corsi is also posting double figures to start the season, with 11.8 points per game. Seven players in all are scoring more than eight points per game for the Trojans.
• Henry French is averaging 11.3 points per game, after putting up 14 and 17 points respectively against Silver Lake (Wisc.) and Waldorf (Iowa) during the 2016 Trojan Classic last week.
• The Trojans have some of the best defensive statistics in the country two weeks into the season. Trinity leads the NAIA in blocks (39; 6.5 per game), and total steals (73). The Trojans are also 5th nationally in turnover margin (+10.0) and steals per game (12.2).
• Trinity is coming off of their first 20-win season in 17 years, and return four of five starters from a year ago.
• Last season, the Trojans reached the NCCAA National Semifinal, in their first NCCAA Tournament appearance since 1999. TIU finished 4th overall in the eight-team tournament after coming in as the No. 6 seed.
• At the start of this season, the Trojans were picked to finish 4th in the CCAC, as voted on by the league's coaches.

Series History

• Trinity and St. Xavier have meet at least once in each of the past 14 seasons, with the Cougars taking all 18 previous matchups.
• The Trojans' and Cougars' last matchup came in the 2016 CCAC Tournament, where SXU claimed an 88-67 home win in the quarterfinals.
• SXU took an 11-point win in the last regular season meeting on their home court, 91-80 on Jan. 27, 2016.

Last Time Out vs. St. Xavier

• Trinity struggled to find their shot all night, as the 6th-seeded Trojans fell behind early, ultimately dropping the opening round of the CCAC Tournament to the No. 3 seed Cougars, 88-67.
• Zach Kirschbaum led the way with 15 points on the night, as three players in all finished with double figures for the Trojans (19-12). Grant Corsi collected ten points, while Luke Mead came off the bench to score 11, including the first seven points for Trinity.

Scouting the Opponents

• St. Xavier opens the conference slate after starting the season with a 1-5 overall record, and enter play this week on a three-game slide.
• The Cougars allow the highest field goal percentage in the CCAC on defense, with opponents shooting at a .532 percentage.
• Freshman Keating Rombach leads the team with 17.0 points per game, tied for 11th among the CCAC scoring leaders.

Trojans in the Polls

• The Trojans debuted at No. 8 in the NCCAA Top 10 Rankings, announced on Tuesday.
• Trinity International has appeared in the NAIA Division II Coaches Poll 21 times in program history, but not since the 1997-98 campaign.
• The Trojans' last NAIA ranking came on Jan. 6, 1998, when the TIU came in at No. 20.
• The highest ranking in program history was during the 1995-96 season, when Trinity was at No. 3 in the Jan. 22, 1996 poll.
• This season, the Trojans placed 4th in the CCAC preseason ratings, with all three programs rated above Trinity earning spots in the NAIA Preseason Coaches Poll.

Record Books

• Last Friday, Trinity posted 126 points in their Trojan Classic victory over Silver Lake (Wisc.). The performance was one point shy of the all-time program record of 127 points scored in a single game. (Feb. 14, 1996 at Rockford [Ill.])
• As a team the Trojans combined for 25 made three-pointers against the Lakers, setting a new CCAC single-game record.
• The 25 threes also goes down as the second-highest number of three-point field goals in a single game in NAIA history.
• With four blocks in the win over Silver Lake, Zach Kirschbaum moved into fifth place on Trinity International's all-time blocked shots list. Kirschbaum now has 61 career blocks, and is one shy of Cameron Burkett's (2003-05) 62 blocks and the No. 4 spot on the list.
• Senior Sean Smith celebrated his 100th game as a Trojan in Saturday night's win over Waldorf (Iowa). The LaGrange, Ill. native played in 34 games as a junior last year, tying the single-season record for total appearances in TIU history. Smith is now ten games away from ninth place on the all-time games played list.

Up Next

• Trinity heads north to take on NCAA Division II foe Wisconsin-Parkside in an exhibition matchup on Saturday November 19.
• The Trojans then re-enter conference play on Tuesday, November 22, when Judson comes to Van DIxhorn Arena for a 7:30 p.m. tip.