PHOENIX, Ariz. - After a tight first half that saw both sides even at the break, Trinity International lost their momentum at the start of the second half, falling to the host Arizona Christian Firestorm, 90-73 on Friday afternoon.

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Seniors Zach Kirschbaum and Grant Corsi each finished with a team-high 18 points on the day, while Kirschbaum earned yet another double-double, pulling down 13 boards. Luke Mead came off the bench to finish in double figures, with 12 points.

"We played really well in the first half, but they came out way more aggressive than us in the second half," said TIU head coach Boomer Roberts after the game. "We couldn't recover from their run. Zach was very good, and Grant and Henry [French] had some big-time plays for us."

The Trojans (6-3) took the first lead of the day on the first of Kirschbaum's five field goals on the night, but both sides would trade the lead 13 times in a very close first half. A pair of free throws from Greg Carlyle at the 1:37 mark of the first half would cap a 4-0 run for Trinity, giving the Trojans their largest lead of the game, 37-33. With a two-point advantage for TIU in the closing seconds, Arizona Christian (4-0) evened the score with a dunk from Chris Sterling at the buzzer, 37-37.

The Firestorm kept things rolling after the break, starting the second half on a 17-2 run spanning the first 5:20 of the period to take a 56-41 lead. The Trojans were never able to trim the deficit back to single digits the rest of the way. "This was a great test for us, because that's as good of a backcourt as we'll see all year," said Roberts about the duo of Sterling and Shy McClelland, who combined for 43 points on the night. "We have to learn from it and come back ready tomorrow against a good Benedictine-Mesa team."

The Trojans wrap up their Arizona trip tomorrow night, when they match up against Benedictine-Mesa (Ariz.), beginning at 5:00 p.m. Central/4:00 p.m. Mountain.