DEERFIELD, Ill. - Six players finished in double figures for Trinity International, but a slow start proved too much to overcome, as St. Ambrose grabbed an 82-81 win inside Van Dixhorn Arena on Wednesday night.

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Grant Corsi led the way with 21 points for the Trojans (16-11, 9-9 CCAC), while Zach Kirschbaum collected his conference-leading 13th double-double, posting 13 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Thomas Amrine and James Glass each tallied 12 points, while Henry French posted 11 and Luke Mead 10.

"We got beat by a team who wanted it more than we did," said TIU head coach Boomer Roberts after the loss. "[St.] Ambrose was ready to compete, and we weren't, which falls on me. We were finally dictating the way the game was played late in the second half, but we missed some open looks and free-throws that would have changed the complexion of the game. Credit to Coach Shovlain and Saint Ambrose, they came in here and beat us."

Trinity opened the game with two quick scores from Kirschbaum to claim a 4-0 edge in the first minute of play, but St. Ambrose (9-16, 7-10 CCAC) responded with an 8-0 run to claim a lead they would hold the rest of the way. The Trojans would keep the deficit within single digits throughout most of the half, as a three-pointer from Amrine would make it a 45-37 score going into the half.

The Bees would take charge in the second half, going up by as much as 19 points with a layup from SAU's Blake Johnson at the 13:15 mark, 65-46. The Trojans started to chip away, eventually trimming the lead back down to single digits on French's fast-break layup with 7:25 to play, 75-67. Another one of Amrine's four triples on the night made it a one-possession game at the 2:44 mark, for the first time since the early minutes of the game. St. Ambrose would go 4-for-4 from the free throw line down the stretch to hold on, despite three-pointers from Corsi and Mead going down within the final five seconds of the game.

With the loss, the Trojans fall to 9-9 in conference play, and are still looking to punch their ticket into the CCAC Tournament with two conference games remaining. Trinity will head to Cardinal Stritch for a pivotal CCAC matchup on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. "We'll need to be much better on Saturday," says Roberts, "but I love our crew and trust we will be."