Quick Notes

• After sharing the CCAC regular season championship just over a week ago, No. 11 Trinity International and No. 7 Robert Morris will meet again, in the CCAC Tournament championship game on Monday night.
• Streaming video and live stats of Saturday's game can be found at EagleSportsNetwork.com.
• Trinity won a share of their first-ever CCAC regular season title, finishing with an 18-2 record in league play. The Trojans clinched the championship with a 93-81 road win over then-No. 8 Robert Morris on Feb. 18.
• Trinity are coming off a 79-76 win over Calumet St. Joseph in the CCAC Tournament semifinals on Friday night, their 11th victory in a row, and the 22nd win in the last 23 games.
• The Trojans earned the No. 2 seed after losing the fourth tiebreaker to Robert Morris, on head-to-head point differential. Robert Morris also earned the North Division's automatic bid to the NAIA Tournament.
• The team has 28 wins this season, setting the all-time program record, and breaking the original mark of 27 victories set in 1996-97.
• Currently the Trojans are 28-4 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 two spots in the latest NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll released last Tuesday, earning the No. 11 spot. The Trojans debuted at No. 20 for their first national ranking in nearly two decades in the poll on Jan. 10, and have moved up in each new edition of the poll since.
• The Trojans have some of the best defensive statistics in the country this season. Trinity ranks leads NAIA-II in blocks (176), ranks 2nd in blocks per game (5.5), 7th in total steals (284), 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 17.6 points per game, and ranks among the NAIA's top five in multiple categories. The Las Vegas, Nev. native is 2nd in NAIA-II in total blocks (79) and rebounds (354), 3rd in total rebounds per game (11.1) and defensive rebounds per game (8.2), and is 4th in blocks per game (2.5).
• Kirschbaum has posted 22 double-doubles this season, most in NAIA-II, and six more than any other player in the CCAC. He also leads the league in rebounding and blocked shots.
• 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 125 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 this season, with 13.9 points per game. The senior has averaged 23 points over both previous meetings with Robert Morris this season, including a team-leading 25 points in the win on Feb. 18.
• Sophomore Jeremy Carlyle is averaging 11.5 points per game, after leading the Trojans in scoring during both tournament games last week. Carlyle posted 16 points in the quarterfinal win over Purdue-Northwest, then collected his highest point total in over a month with 21 points in the victory over Calumet St. Joseph on Friday. Carlyle leads the team with a three-point shooting percentage of 42.9%.
• Senior guard Luke Mead leads the Trojan bench with 11.4 points per game, the fourth-highest average on the team. Mead also ranks 2nd on the team in assists, averaging 2.7 per game. In the win over Purdue-Northwest last Tuesday, Mead finished with 8 points and a career-high five steals.
• Senior guard Sean Smith will make his 127th career appearance on Friday, the 4th-most games played in TIU history. This season, Smith is averaging 5.2 points per game on 46.2% shooting. in Tuesday's win over Purdue-Northwest, Smith scored double-figures for the fourth time this season, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds.
• Senior wing Henry French is averaging 1.7 blocks per game, and is 3rd on the CCAC leaderboard. French has 54 total blocks (14th in NAIA), and is averaging 8.5 points per game. French also leads the team with 2.8 assists per game.
• French is one of three players competing for the final spot in the dunk contest at the NABC-NAIA Shoot & Slam presented by US Bank. The winner of a fan vote on Instagram will earn the final spot and compete during the NAIA Division I Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. on Mar. 18. The deadline to vote is Feb. 28 at 9 a.m.
• Sophomore guard Greg Carlyle is second on the team in three-point shooting, with a .404 percentage. Carlyle finished with 13 points in each of the CCAC Tournament victories last week, and is averaging 7.9 points thoughout the season.
• 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 30 of 32 games this season, averaging 4.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game.
• Freshman guard Will Davidson ranks 42nd in NAIA Division II with a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. Davidson has 29 assists to 12 turnovers, with two assists in both tournament games last week.
• 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. He played a season-high 13 minutes against the Pride on Tuesday.
 

About Robert Morris

• The 7th-ranked Eagles are the co-champions of the CCAC, and clinched the automatic bid to the NAIA Tournament for winning the North Division. 
• Monday marks the 13th meeting between Trinity International and Robert Morris, with the Eagles holding an 8-4 advantage in the series. Trinity is 4-2 against RMU in the Boomer Roberts era.
• After starting the season with a 2-4 record, Robert Morris has lost just twice since Nov. 28; once to Trinity International in the regular season finale.
• Senior forward Grant Corsi led the Trojans with 25 points, while teammate Zach Kirschbaum picked up his NAIA-leading 22nd double-double of the year with 11 points and a career-best 18 rebounds in the last meeting with RMU on Feb. 18.
• Senior guard Antonio Levy averages 20.3 points per game for the Eagles, 3rd-most in the CCAC and 28th in the NAIA. Levy averaged 21 points in two earlier meetings with Trinity this season.
 

Trojans in the Polls

• Trinity earned the No. 11 spot in the latest NAIA Division II Coaches' Poll released on Tuesday, up two spots from the previous poll.
• Trinity International has appeared in the NAIA Division II Coaches Poll 25 times in program history, with this season marking the first national ranking since the 1997-98 campaign.
• 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 held steady in the latest NCCAA National Rankings, at 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 79 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.
• Kirschbaum also sits 3rd in the TIU record book in rebounding, with 354 boards this season. The senior needs 64 more rebounds to match Marc Davidson's 1994-95 season, and 87 more for Davidson's record-setting 1993-94 campaign
• Jeremy Carlyle has made 76 three-pointers this season, 8th-most in a single season in Trinity history. Carlyle can reach Jake Olson (1995-96) and Thomas Amrine (2015-16) for 6th with two more threes.
 

Up Next

• By reaching the CCAC Tournament championship game, the Trojans have clinched an automatic bid to the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship, which kicks off Mar. 8 in Point Lookout, Mo. The full 32-team bracket will be announced on Wedneday, Mar. 1.