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No. 6 TRINITY INTERNATIONAL TROJANS (20-12) vs. No. 2 SOUTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN (Okla.) EAGLES (18-14)
Thursday, March 17 | 6:00 p.m. CDT
Manahan Orthopedic Capital Center | Winona Lake, Ind.
Quick Notes
• Trinity International will play to earn a spot in the NCCAA National Championship game for the first time in program history on Thursday night, when they take on the Southwestern Christian (Okla.) Eagles.
• Pay-per-view streaming video throughout the tournament will be available at TIUTrojans.com. The pay-per-view stream is $6.95 per game.
• The Trojans wrapped up the 2015-16 regular season with a 19-11 record, the winningest campaign since 1998-99. Trinity finished 3rd in the CCAC North Division and 6th in the league overall, with a 11-9 mark.
• Four players are currently averaging double figures for the Trojans, led by Grant Corsi's 14.7 points per game. Zach Kirschbaum (14.0), Jeremy Carlyle (12.4), and Thomas Amrine (10.6), are also in double figures at this point in the season.
• The Trojans secured their 20th victory of the season on Wednesday, recording the program's first 20-win campiagn since 1998-99. Another win this week would be the team's 34th victory so far between 2014-16, matching the most wins over a two-year period for TIU since 1997-99 (14 wins in '97-'98, 20 in '98-'99).
• Trinity's win over Roosevelt on Feb. 6 clinched a winning record, the program's first since the 1998-99 season, a span of 17 seasons.
• Wednesday marks the first-ever meeting between Trinity and Southwestern Christian in program history.
• Junior forward Zach Kirschbaum is the CCAC leader in rebounds, averaging 10.0 per game. With 14.0 points per game, Kirschbaum is the only player in the conference to be averaging a double-double, and has a CCAC-best 15 double-doubles this year.
• TIU posted the second-best scoring average in the CCAC this year, averaging 82.9 points per game. Southwestern Christian finished 8th in the 10-team Sooner Athletic Conference, with an average of 77.1 points each contest.
• Defensively, TIU is 14th in the CCAC with 78.4 points allowed per game; SWCU has the 5th-ranked defense in the SAC, giving up just 76.9 points each game to their opponents.
• As a team, the Trojans rank 13th in the NAIA with 281 total steals this season, and an average of 9.1 steals per game. Trinity ranks 4th in the NCCAA in steals, with the highest average of any team in the tournament.
• Trinity earned three victories over nationally-ranked opponents this season. The Trojans upset No. 14 Olivet Nazarene and No. 15 Robert Morris in back-to-back games on Jan. 16-20 by a combined three points, 79-78 and 66-64. On Feb. 20, TIU celebrated Senior Night with an 83-67 victory over No. 19 Robert Morris.
• Southwestern Christian earned a spot in the NCCAA Tournament after sweeping through the Central Regional with wins over Central Christian (Kan.) and Central Baptist (Ark.). The Eagles finished the regular season in a tie for 4th in the Sooner Athletic Conference, but were bounced out of the SAC Tournament in the first round by Science and Arts (Okla.)
Scouting the Opponent
• The Eagles are led by a pair of All-SAC selections averaging over 16 points per game, in senior center James Still, and junior guard Marvin White.
• Still earned All-SAC First Team honors after averaging a double-double through 22 games this season, with 16.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. In the NCCAA Central Regional final win over Central Baptist, Still tallied a season-high 31 points along with ten boards to advance to Winona Lake.
• White is the team's leading scorer, averaging 19.4 points per game, good for 4th in the SAC and 19th in the NAIA. Against Bethany (Kan.) back on Nov. 3, White scored a season-high 34 points in a losing effort.
• White ranks 10th nationally in the NCCAA in scoring, while Still is the NCCAA's second-leading rebounder. Mikel Parish is averaging 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game, good for 11th and 14th in the NCCAA, respectively
Trojans in the CCAC Tournament
• 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 St. Xavier Cougars, 88-67 on Feb. 24.
• Zach Kirschbaum led the way with 15 points on the night, as three players in all finished with double figures for the Trojans. Grant Corsi collected ten points, while Luke Mead came off the bench to score 11, including the first seven points for Trinity.
• The shooting woes began right away for TIU, who missed their first eight attempts from the field. The Cougars jumped out to a 9-0 lead before Mead's layup at the 16:26 mark put the Trojans on the board. A quick four-point rally midway through the first half, from a Thomas Amrine layup and a pair of Greg Carlyle free throws, was quickly answered by one of St. Xavier's seven first-half three-pointers. Another 4-0 run with 8:52 left in the period was followed by six straight from the home team, as the Cougars were able to keep Trinity from chipping away at the deficit.
TIU in the NCCAA Tournament
• Trinity will be making their third appearance at the NCCAA Men's Basketball National Championship in program history. The Trojans last played in the NCCAA Tournament in 1999, and made their first trip in 1974.
• A win over the Eagles would earn the first-ever spot in the NCCAA National Championship game for Trinity International in program history.
• The Trojans finished in 3rd place in 1999, falling to Emmanuel (Ga.) in the semifinals, then taking the consolation game over Cedarville (Ohio), 107-104.
• The 1974 tournament was a four-team field, as the Trojans lost in the semis to Bethany (Kan.).
Postseason Honors
• For the first time in the last five seasons, Trinity placed two Trojans on the All-CCAC Team.
• Junior forward Zach Kirschbaum earned All-CCAC First Team honors, becoming TIU's only First Team selection since 2010-11.
• Junior wing Grant Corsi was named an All-CCAC Honorable Mention in his first year with the Trojans.
• Corsi and Kirschbaum were also named to the All-NCCAA North Central Region First Team, while senior guard Thomas Amrine earned All-Region Honorable Mention.
National Leaders
• The Trojans rank among the top 20 in NAIA-II in total steals (13th, 281), steals per game (13th, 9.1), blocks per game (15th, 4.1), turnover margin (14th, +2.9), and total blocks (16th, 128).
• On the offensive end, TIU ranks 31st in scoring average, thanks in large part to a total of 277 three-pointers made this season, 25th-best in the NAIA.
• The Trojans rank among the NAIA's top 50 teams in all five major categories: total points (38th, 2,564), rebounds (31st, 1,233), assists (44th, 456), steals (13th, 281), and blocks (16th, 128).
Career Milestone
• The next three-pointer from senior shooting guard Thomas Amrine will be his 1,000th career point as a Trojan. Amrine has collected 997 points during his TIU career, over three seasons.
• Amrine would become the 19th player in Trinity International history to reach 1,000 points.
• Last season, Trinity had two of the 18 previous 1,000-point scorers on the same team, in center Nate Ball, and guard Dillon Wadsack.
• Ball finished his Trojans career 13th on the program's all-time scoring list, with 1,304 career points. Wadsack is 14th, with 1,170 points.
Trojans in the Polls
• Trinity International has appeared in the NAIA Division II Coaches Poll 21 times in program history, but not since the 1997-98 campaign.
• TIU's last ranking came on Jan. 6, 1998, when the Trojans 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.
New Signings
• The Trinity International men's basketball program received a major boost in the 2016 recruiting class, when the Trojans announced the signing of Mark Smith, a 6-7 forward from Riverside-Brookfield High School (Riverside, Ill).
• The Trojans have also added Oakton CC foward Sam Mitchell (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) to the class of '16, who will join Trinity as a junior next fall.
• Mitchell played two seasons at Oakton CC under head coach Mick Reuter, where he was a standout on the court for the Owls. Mitchell was named All-Skyway Conference Second Team as a freshman in 2012-13, averaging 16 points, 8 rebounds, and two assists per game, while shooting 47% from the field.
• The versatile forward followed up his first season by earning All-Skyway First Team honors as a sophomore in 2013-14. That season, Mitchell helped the Owls to an improvement of five wins from the previous year, posting averages of 13 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, and one steal per game, shooting 85% from the free throw line. For his effort, Mitchell was also named to the NJCAA Region VI First Team.
Magic Number
• On the defensive end of the court this season, the 80-point mark seems to be the key for a Trojan victory. Nineteen times this season, TIU has held their opponents to under 80 points, and the Trojans have gone 18-1 in those games. When allowing 80 or more points, Trinity has only two wins in 13 tries, with one of those victories coming in the double-overtime win at Illinois Tech on Jan. 12.
• In the two seasons of the Roberts era, Trinity holds a 30-5 mark when their opponents score less than 80 points, and a 3-24 record when the other side hits the 80-point plateau.
Up Next
• The Trojans will play on Saturday, but the time and opponent are yet to be determined. A win over SCU advances Trinity to the NCCAA National Championship game at 3 p.m. CDT. A loss sends the Trojans to the consolation game at 11 a.m. CDT.