Quick Notes

• Trinity International can win a share of their first Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference title in program history, when they face No. 8 Robert Morris on Saturday afternoon, in the NAIA Division II Game of the Week.
• Streaming video and live stats of Saturday's game can be found at TIUTrojans.com.
• The Trojans sit one game behind Robert Morris for the top spot of the CCAC standings. The best record in the North Division will earn an automatic bid to the NAIA Division II National Championship tournament. 
• Trinity has clinched at least the No. 2 seed in the upcoming CCAC Tournament, with a six-game lead on St. Xavier in the conference standings.
• Trinity are coming off an 84-78 non-conference road win at Maranatha Baptist (Wisc.) on Tuesday, and finish the regular season with an 8-2 record outside of league play.
• The team has 25 wins this season, tying the 1995-96 quad for the 2nd-most victories in program history, and the most since 1996-97, when they set a program record with 27.
• Currently the Trojans are 25-4 overall, for the best overall mark in the CCAC. Trinity has also secured back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in two decades (1995-96, 1996-97).
• TIU moved up four spots in the latest NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll released on Feb. 7, earning the No. 13 spot. The Trojans debuted at No. 20 for their first national ranking in nearly two decades in the poll on Jan. 10.
• The Trojans have some of the best defensive statistics in the country this season. Trinity ranks 2nd in the NAIA in blocks (155), and in blocks per game (5.3), 8th in total steals (256), and 9th in turnover margin (+3.7 per game).
• 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 is the Trojans' leading scorer, with 18.5 points per game, and ranks among the NAIA's top four in multiple categories. The Las Vegas, Nev. native is 2nd in NAIA Division II in total rebounds (319), 3rd in total blocks (71), rebounds per game (11.0.), and defensive rebounds per game (8.1), and 4th in blocks per game (2.4).
• Kirschbaum has posted 21 double-doubles this season, most in the NAIA, and six more than any other player in the CCAC. He also leads the league in rebounding (11.0 per game) and blocked shots, (2.4 per game).
• With five blocks against Roosevelt on Feb. 4, Kirschbaum moved into fourth place on Trinity International's all-time blocked shots list. Kirschbaum surpassed Ignas Verbus' (2007-11) 113 blocks for the No. 4 spot on the list, and now has 117 blocks in his Trojan career.
• 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.
• 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. The senior has averaged over 15 points over each of his last four apperances, including a 21-point performance in the win at St. Ambrose on Feb. 8.
• 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 2.8 per game. In the win over Cardinal Stritch on Saturday, Mead finished with a team-high 16 points, going 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
• Sophomore Jeremy Carlyle is averaging 10.9 points per game, after posting double figures in four straight games (Feb. 1-11) for the first time since late December. Carlyle leads the Trojans with a .410 three-point shooting percentage, and an .891 percentage from the free throw line.
• Senior guard Sean Smith will make his 124th career appearance on Saturday, matching Bobby Brown (2002-06) for 4th on TIU's all-time list. This season, Smith is averaging 5.1 points per game on 47.5% shooting.
• Senior wing Henry French is averaging 1.6 blocks per game, and is 3rd on the CCAC leaderboard. French has 47 total blocks (15th in NAIA), and is averaging 8.5 points per game. French also leads the team with 3.0 assists per game.
• On Jan. 30, French was nominated to participate in the Dunk Contest as part of the 2017 NABC-NAIA Shoot & Slam presented by US Bank. The event takes place during the NAIA Division I National Tournament, in Kansas City on Mar. 18, with participants announced later this month.
• Sophomore guard Greg Carlyle is second on the team in three-point shooting, with a .398 percentage. Carlyle is averaging 1.8 assists per game, after recording two assists in four of the last five games.
• Freshman forward T.J. Johnson set a career high with 19 points in the win at Indiana-South Bend on Jan. 28. Johnson has started 27 of 29 games this season, averaging 4.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game.
• Freshman guard Will Davidson ranks 9th in NAIA Division II with a 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. Davidson has 24 assists to just seven turnovers, with at least one assist in seven of his last eight games.
• Freshman center Rick Wright made his Trojan debut on Jan. 3 in the win over St. Ambrose. In the rematch with the Bees on Feb. 8, Wright set a career high with 10 points, his first game in double-figures as a Trojan.
 

About Robert Morris

• Saturday marks the 12th meeting between Trinity International and Robert Morris, and the second consecutive battle with both sides in the NAIA Top 25. The Eagles hold an 8-3 advantage in the series.
• The ranked Trojans had won three straight over RMU before a 109-91 loss on Jan. 18, the only defeat inside Van Dixhorn Arena this season.
• An 11-0 run spanning less than ninety seconds suddenly put the Eagles in front 30-11 at the 12:49 mark of the first half. RMU knocked down five three-pointers in the first seven minutes of play, going 10-for-19 from beyond the arc in the first half, and finishing the night shooting an even 50% (16-32).
• Four Trojans finished in double figures, led by Kirschbaum's 23. Grant Corsi posted 21 points, while Luke Mead and Greg Carlyle came off the bench to score 16 and 13, respectively. 
• The No. 8 Eagles hold a 23-5 record on the season, and have clinched at least a share of the CCAC regular season title. Robert Morris has lost just once since Nov. 27, with their only blemish coming at St. Xavier on Feb. 1.
• Senior guard Antonio Levy leads the team with 20.6 points per game, 3rd-most in the CCAC.
 

Trojans in the Polls

• Trinity earned the No. 13 spot in the latest NAIA Division II Coaches' Poll released on Feb. 7, up four spots from the previous poll.
• Trinity International has appeared in the NAIA Division II Coaches Poll 24 times in program history, with this season marking the first national ranking since the 1997-98 campaign.
• Prior to Jan. 10, 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 dropped one spot in the latest NCCAA National Rankings, to No. 4 in the poll released on Tuesday.
• The Trojans were picked 4th in the CCAC preseason ratings, behind St. Francis, Robert Morris, and St. Xavier.
 

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 71 total blocks this season ranks him 3th all-time on TIU's single-season blocks list. With five blocks against Roosevelt on Feb. 4, Kirschbaum surpassed Dan Larson (1994-95) for No. 3 on the list.
 

Up Next

• The Trojans have clinched a home game for the quarterfinal round of the CCAC Tournament, set for Tuesday, Feb. 21, beginning at 7:00 p.m.