DEERFIELD, Ill. - With five players in double figures, Trinity International recorded their 15th win of the season with a 76-65 victory over the Judson Eagles, inside Van Dixhorn Arena on Wednesday night.
Box Score | Season StatsThe 15 victories this year match the highest win total for Trinity (15-10, 8-8 CCAC) in five years, as the Trojans complete the season sweep over Judson (8-17, 2-14) for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign.
Zach Kirschbaum led the Trojans with 15 points in the win, while recording his CCAC-leading 11th double-double of the year, with 11 rebounds. On the defensive end, Kirschbaum matched his season high with four blocks.
James Glass came off the bench to add in 13 points, while
Henry French tallied 12 and
Grant Corsi and
Thomas Amrine each had ten.
"Our overall team balance and depth showed through tonight, on both ends of the floor," said TIU head coach
Boomer Roberts after the win. "Judson played very well to open the game, but we settled down in the second half and controlled the defensive end. Zach and James contine to show that they are right there with any big-man tandem in the league, both scoring and on the glass. We had four guards with at least five rebounds; Henry, Grant, and Sean [Smith] held Judson's two leading scorers to 11 points combined, which is very difficult to do."
After Trinity jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead over the game's first two minutes, Judson rallied to tie the score at 11-11 at the 14:49 mark of the first half.
Sean Smith answered with a layup-and-1 out of a timeout, edging the Trojans back in front 14-11. Judson would tie the game six different times in the first half, and briefly take a one-point lead, but the Trojans largely were in control before the break, taking a 43-39 lead at the half.
Judson's Drew Makiewicz opened the second act with a three-pointer to cut the Trojan lead down to one, but Trinity responded with 12 straight points, including five points from Kirschbaum, to open a 55-42 advantage with 13:57 to play. French's alley-oop dunk from Corsi gave the Trojans their biggest lead of the night, 72-51 at the 4:08 mark. Judson began to chip away at the deficit, pulling to within ten points, but ran out of time to get back into the game.
"I thought our focus early this week in practice was key to playing the way we did, and that really excites our staff," said Roberts. "Each guy in that locker room believes we have a lot more to accomplish this year, and they are working hard to do that."
The Trojans' next test comes up Saturday, when they travel to face Roosevelt. The Lakers currently sit in a tie for seventh in the CCAC standings, just one game behind Trinity as the conference tournament starts to take shape over the final weeks of the regular season. Tipoff at Roosevelt is set for 3:00 p.m.