Quick Notes

• Trinity International looks to bounce back from their first loss in nearly two months, when they host the St. Francis Saints for a pivotal matchup in the CCAC title race.
• Streaming video and live stats of Saturday's game can be found at TIUTrojans.com/LIVE
• The Trojans sit a one and a half games behind Robert Morris for the top spot of the CCAC standings, as the Eagles remain unbeaten in league play. The best record in the North Division will earn an automatic bid to the NAIA Division II National Championship tournament.
• Trinity fell to the Eagles, 109-91 on Wednesday night, snapping an 11-game winning streak that was just one victory shy of matching the all-time program record.
• Currently the Trojans are 17-4 overall, for the best overall mark in the league.
• TIU was ranked in the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll on Jan. 10, debuting in the poll at No. 20. Trinity earned its first national ranking in nearly two decades (Jan. 6, 1998).
• The Trojans have some of the best defensive statistics in the country this season. Trinity leads the NAIA in blocks (114), ranks 3rd in blocks per game (5.4), 6th in turnover margin (+4.4 per game), and 8th in total steals (186).
• Trinity is coming off of their first 20-win season in 17 years, and return four of five starters from a year ago. With three more victories this year, the ë16-'17 Trojans can record the program's 7th 20-win season, and the first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1995-96 and 1996-97.
• 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.
• Senior forward Zach Kirschbaum leads both divisions of NAIA basketball in rebounding, collecting a total of 241 rebounds. The Las Vegas, Nev. native is also 2nd in NAIA Division II in blocks per game (2.7), defensive rebounds per game (8.5), and total rebounds per game (11.5).
• Kirschbaum was named the CCAC Player of the Week, as well as the NCCAA National Player of the Week on Jan. 17, after his 32-point performance in the road win over Olivet Nazarene on Jan. 14. Kirschbaum has three CCAC and two NCCAA weekly honors during his career as a Trojan.
• Kirschbaum has posted 16 double-doubles this season, most in the NAIA, and four more than any other player in the CCAC. He also leads the league in rebounding (11.5 per game) and blocked shots, (2.7 per game).
• With two blocks against St. Xavier on Nov. 16, Kirschbaum moved into fourth place on Trinity International's all-time blocked shots list. Kirschbaum surpassed Cameron Burkett's (2003-05) 62 blocks for the No. 5 spot on the list, and now has 102 blocks in his Trojan career.
• Trinity players earned two CCAC Player of the Week awards during the month of December, in Zach Kirschbaum and Jeremy Carlyle. Kirschbaum was named Player of the Week on Dec. 6, after averaging 20 points and 14.5 rebounds in wins over Roosevelt and Purdue-Northwest. Carlyle was honored after leading the Trojans in scoring during their wins over No. 5 Indiana-East and Calumet St. Joseph.
• Grant Corsi is also scoring double figures season, with 13.8 points per game. In the Trojans' win over Judson on Nov. 22, Corsi recorded his first career double-double, collecting 19 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
• Senior guard Luke Mead leads the Trojan bench with 11.6 points per game, the third-highest average on the team. Mead also ranks 2nd on the team in assists, averaging 2.8 per game. He has scored double figures in nine of the last ten games.
• Sophomore Jeremy Carlyle is averaging 10.9 points per game, after posting 22 points in the win at Olivet Nazarene last Saturday. Carlyle is shooting 40.9% from three-point range and leads the team with 33 steals on the season.
• Freshman guard Will Davidson is 6th in the NAIA with a 4.33 assist-to-turnover ratio. Davidson has 13 assists to just three turnovers, while averaging just 5.1 minutes on the floor this season. He set a career high with four assists twice, in wins over East-West (Ill.) and Emmaus Bible (Iowa).
• Senior guard Sean Smith will make his 116th career appearance on Saturday, tying his former teammate Dillon Wadsack (2010-15) for 8th on TIU's all-time games played list.
• Senior wing Henry French is averaging 1.3 blocks per game, and is 5th on the CCAC leaderboard. French has 28 total blocks (28th in NAIA), and is averaging 8.8 points per game. Against Robert Morris on Saturday, French set a new career high with 10 rebounds.
• Freshman forward T.J. Johnson set a career high with nine rebounds in the win over Trinity Christian on Jan. 7. Johnson has started all 21 games this season, averaging 3.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in 13.8 minutes per game.
• Freshman center Rick Wright made his Trojan debut on Jan. 3 in the win over St. Ambrose. Wright finished with two points and a rebound in four minutes of play.

About St. Francis

• Saturday marks the 12th meeting between Trinity International and St. Francis since the 2003-04 season. The Saints leads the series over TIU 8-3, and have won the last two meetings.
• Trinity's last win came on Feb. 22, 2014, when Sam Salem hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to defeat the Saints 77-75 in the final game of the season.
• On Jan. 23, 2016, Trinity came up just short in their bid for a third straight win over a nationally-ranked team, falling on the road 80-66 to the 2nd-ranked Saints.
• Currently, St. Francis have won three in a row, most recently a road victory at Indiana-South Bend on Wednesday.
• Senior guard Jo Jo Ballestero leads the NAIA with a .937 free throw percentage. Ballistero also averages 15.0 points per game.
• Junior forward Iain Morison leads the Saints with 16.0 points per game.

Trojans in the Polls

• Trinity earned the No. 20 spot in the latest NAIA Division II Coaches' Poll, released on Tuesday.
• Trinity International has appeared in the NAIA Division II Coaches Poll 22 times in program history, with this week being the first since the 1997-98 campaign.
• The Trojans' last NAIA ranking came on Jan. 6, 1998, when the TIU also 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.
• The Trojans sit at No. 5 in the latest NCCAA National Rankings, their highest ranking this season. 
• Trinity has been ranked No. 8 in three of the first five polls this season, beginning with the opening poll on Nov. 15.
• The Trojans were picked 4th in the CCAC preseason ratings, behind St. Francis, Robert Morris, and St. Xavier.
• Trinity ranks 2nd in the latest conference ratings, released Tuesday, behind No. 14 Robert Morris.

Record Books

• On Nov. 11, 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.
• Zach Kirschbaum's 56 total blocks this season ranks him 5th all-time on TIU's single-season blocks list. With two more blocks this season, Kirschbaum will tie Teryck Taylor (2003-04) for No. 4 on the list.

Up Next

• Wednesday, Jan. 25 vs. St. Xavier will be the third annual White Out Game. A select number of White Out shirts will be given to TIU students, alumni, and fans.
• The Trojans begin a two-game road trip on Saturday, Jan. 28 when they face Indiana-South Bend. Trinity then takes on Judson on Feb. 1.
• Saturday, Feb. 4 vs. Roosevelt is the team's annual Upward Night, where kids and families involved with Upward Basketball enjoy free admission and a chance to meet the team after the game.