Quick Notes

• For the first time in ten years, No. 11 Trinity International will take the court in the 2017 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship on Wednesday night. The Trojans will take on the hosts College of the Ozarks (Mo.) beginning at approximately 8:00 p.m.
• Streaming video throughout the Division II Men's Basketball National Championships is available at NAIANetwork.com. Single day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while an all-tournament package is available at $29.95. An audio-only broadcast will also be streaming for free at TIUTrojans.com.
• The Trojans earned a No. 3 seed in the National Championships, in their first tournament appearance since 2006-07.
• 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 92-77 road loss to No. 7 Robert Morris in the CCAC Tournament championship game on Feb. 27. The defeat snapped the team's second 11-game win streak, of the season.
• 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. The 28 wins rank 4th among NAIA National Championship contenders. Trinity has also secured back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in two decades (1995-96, 1996-97).
• TIU held steady in the final NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll released on Mar. 1, 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 leads NAIA-II in blocks
(177), ranks 2nd in blocks per game (5.4), 6th in total steals (295), and 8th in turnover margin (+3.8 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 17.2 points per game, and ranks among the NAIA's top five in multiple categories. The Las Vegas, Nev. native is tied for the lead in the NAIA-II in total blocks (80), 2nd in rebounds (363), 3rd in defensive rebounds per game (8.1), 4th in blocks per game (2.4), and 5th in rebounds per game (11.0)
• With 28 points, Kirschbaum can become the 20th Trojan to ever score 1,000 career points, and the 4th player in the last three years to reach the 1,000-point mark. Nate Ball and Dillon Wadsack reached a thousand points in 2015, while Thomas Amrine completed the feat last season.
• 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 126 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 reached double figures in each of his last eight games, scoring an average of 12.0 points in three games during the CCAC Tournament.
• Sophomore Jeremy Carlyle is averaging 11.5 points per game, after leading the Trojans in scoring during all three CCAC Tournament games. Carlyle posted 16 points in the quarterfinal win over Purdue-Northwest, then collected his highest point total in over a month with 21 points against Calumet St. Joseph, and finished with 14 points at Robert Morris. Carlyle leads the team with a three-point shooting percentage of 43.5%.
• 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 Calumet on Feb. 24, Mead finished with 13 points, going 3-for-7 from three-point range.
• Senior guard Sean Smith will make his 128th career appearance on Wednesday, tying Levi Arnold (2004-08) for the 3rd-most games played in TIU history. This season, Smith is averaging 5.2 points per game on 45.1% shooting. in the Feb. 21 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 1.6 blocks per game, and is 4th on the CCAC leaderboard. French has 54 total blocks (14th in NAIA-II), and is averaging 8.6 points per game. French also leads the team with 2.8 assists per game.
• French is one of four players competing at the NABC-NAIA Shoot & Slam presented by US Bank. French was the winner of a fan vote on Instagram, earning the final spot in the dunk contest, and will compete during the NAIA Division I Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. on Mar. 18.
• Sophomore guard Greg Carlyle is second on the team in three-point shooting, with a .396 percentage. Carlyle finished with 13 points in each of the two CCAC Tournament victories against Purdue-Northwest and Calumet St. Joseph, and is averaging 7.7 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 31 of 33 games this season, averaging 4.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game.
• Freshman guard Will Davidson ranks 41st in NAIA Division II with a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. Davidson has 29 assists to 12 turnovers, with two assists in the first two games in the CCAC Tournament.
• 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 Feb. 21.
 

About College of the Ozarks (Mo.)

• The Bobcats earned a No. 6 seed in the Division II Men's Basketball National Championships, earning an automatic bid to the tournament as the host institution.
• Wednesday marks the 3rd meeting between Trinity International and College of the Ozarks, with the Bobcats winning both previous matchups, in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
• After starting the season with a 5-6 record, Ozarks has won 15 of its last 18 games. The Bobcast hosted the A.I.I. tournament, falling in the first round to Indiana-Northwest on Feb. 24.
• Cameron Paschke leads the team with 20.7 points per game. Paschke also ranks 12th in the NAIA-II with an .871 free throw shooting percentage.
• Kiefer Starbird averages 2.7 offensive rebounds per game, good for 31st in the NAIA-II.
 

Trojans in the Polls

• Trinity earned the No. 11 spot in the latest NAIA Division II Coaches' Poll released on Mar. 1, holding the same spot from the previous rankings.
• Trinity International has appeared in the NAIA Division II Coaches Poll 26 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 final NCCAA regular season National Rankings, at No. 4 in the poll released on Feb. 28.
• 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 80 total blocks this season ranks him 2nd 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. 2 on the list.
• Kirschbaum also sits 3rd in the TIU record book in rebounding, with 363 boards this season. The senior needs 55 more rebounds to match Marc Davidson's 1994-95 season, and 78 more for Davidson's record-setting 1993-94 campaign
• Jeremy Carlyle has made 80 three-pointers this season, tied for 4th-most in a single season in Trinity history. Carlyle can reach Thomas Amrine (2013-14) for 3rd with five more threes.

 

Up Next

• With a win over the Ozarks, Trinity International will advance to the round of 16 at the Division II Men's Basketball National Championships. The Trojans would face off on Friday, Mar. 10 at 7:30 p.m., against either No. 2 seed Warner (Fla.), or No. 7 seed Taylor (Ind.)