Quick Notes

• Trinity International will look to earn its tenth straight victory on Saturday afternoon, when they take on the Trinity Christian Trolls.
• Streaming video and live stats of Saturday's game can be found at TIUTrojans.com/LIVE
• The Trojans sit just a game behind Robert Morris for the top spot of the CCAC standings, as the Eagles remain unbeaten in league play.
• Trinity became the first CCAC team to reach 15 wins this year, after defeating Cardinal Stritch 81-68 on the road Thursday night.
• If the Trojans earn a win over the Trolls on Saturday, it will be the team's tenth victory in a row, matching their longest winning streak since Dec. 20-Jan. 28 of the 2014-15 season.
• The Trojans rank 2nd in the CCAC, averaging 87.4 points per game. Trinity Christian averages 73.6 points per game, good for 13th in the CCAC.
• Defensively, the Trolls rank 6th in the league, with 77.2 points allowed per game. The Trojans rank just ahead, at 5th, allowing 76.7 points on average.
• Senior forward Zach Kirschbaum leads all divisions of NCAA or NAIA college basketball in rebounding, collecting a total of 216 rebounds through 18 games this season.
• The Las Vegas, Nev. native is also leads all of NAIA-II with an average of 8.9 defensive rebounds per game.
• Kirschbaum has posted 14 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 (12.0 per game) and blocked shots, (2.8 per game).
• Grant Corsi is also scoring double figures season, with 13.4 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.
• Sophomore Jeremy Carlyle is averaging 11.1 points per game, and is shooting 45.1% from three-point range, ranking 8th in the CCAC.
• Through 17 games, senior guard Luke Mead leads the Trojan bench with 11.3 points per game, the third-highest average on the team. Mead also ranks 2nd on the team in assists, averaging 2.7 per game.
• 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.
• The Trojans have some of the best defensive statistics in the country this season. Trinity leads the NAIA in blocks (101), ranks 3rd in blocks per game (5.6), 6th in total steals (165), and 7th in turnover margin (+4.4 per game).
• 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.

Series History
• Saturday marks the 29th meeting between Trinity International and Trinity Christian since the 2003-04 season.
• The Trolls lead the series over TIU 18-10, and have won two of the last three meetings going back to 2014-15.

Last Time Out vs. Trinity Christian
• Junior center Zach Kirschbaum led the way with 16 points, as Trinity International cruised to a road victory at Trinity Christian, 73-64 on Jan. 9, 2016.
• Kirschbaum finished with his fifth double-double as a Trojan, pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds in the win. Luke Mead came off the bench to score double figures, tallying 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting, and a 7-of-9 performance from the free throw line. In all, a balanced attack saw seven players finish with seven or more points for the Trojans.

Scouting the Opponents
• The Trolls had won three in a row to close out 2016, but dropped back-to-back contests at Holy Cross and against Governors State earlier this week.
• Jordan Perry leads the team and ranks 4th in the CCAC, 31st in the NAIA, averaging 19.5 points per game.
• Caleb Jonkman is Trinity Christian's best three-point threat, averaging 13.9 points per game and shooting 42.7% from beyond the arc.

Trojans in the Polls
• Trinity recieved 65 votes in the latest NAIA Division II Coaches Poll, released on Dec. 13, coming up just three votes shy of cracking the Top 25.
• 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.
• The Trojans sit at No. 8 in the latest NCCAA National Rankings, which came out on Dec. 13. Trinity has been ranked No. 8 in three of the first five polls this season, beginning with the opening poll on Nov. 15.
• 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.
• Trinity ranks 2nd in the latest conference ratings, released Dec. 12, behind No. 19 St. Francis.

National Rankings
• Senior forward Zach Kirschbaum ranks third or better in the NAIA-II, in five different categories.
• Kirschbaum leads all divisions of college basketball with 216 total rebounds. He also leads the NAIA with 8.9 defensive boards per game, and is 2nd in rebounds per game (12.0), 3rd in blocks per game (2.8) and total blocks (50).
• Freshman guard Will Davidson is 8th in the NAIA with a 3.67 assist-to-turnover ratio. Davidson has 11 assists while averaging just 4.9 minutes on the floor this season.

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.
• With two blocks against St. Xavier on Nov. 16, Zach 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. 4 spot on the list.
• Senior Sean Smith will move into 8th place all-time in Trinity history when he makes his 113th career appearance on Saturday, surpassing Patrick Atkins' (2008-11) 112 games played.

Up Next
• With a full week before their next game, the Trojans will prepare for a road trip to Olivet Nazarene on Saturday, January 14. Tipoff against the Tigers is set for 3:00 p.m.