St. Ambrose opened the second half with a 9-0 run to break a halftime tie on the way to an 86-78 win over Wilberforce on the second day of the Trinity Christian Troll Classic.

The Bees lost their first game of the event 77-74 to Grace Bible College.

With Saturday's game tied at 38-38 at the half, Lee Hardrick hit the first of five straight shots for St. Ambrose. John Kerr knocked down two shots around a Jake Meeske 3-pointer to cap the nine-point run. After Wilberforce hit a free throw, Kerr scored inside to give SAU a 49-39 lead.

Minutes later, Blake Buls converted a three-point play to push the advantage to 66-52.

The Bulldogs closed to within five points twice inside the final three minutes, the last time coming at 80-75 with 2:15 left. They had a chance to get closer as SAU committed turnovers on its next four possession, but the Bees got a stop each time. Meeske then hit two free throws with 29 seconds to play before hitting two more 15 seconds later to ice the win.

St. Ambrose (4-2) overcame 18 turnovers by outscoring Wilberforce 20-8 from the line. SAU hit 20 of 22 free throws. The Bees also outrebounded the Bulldogs 47-37.

Hardrick led the way with 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting. He added five rebounds and five assists. Kerr added 16 points and six boards and Meeske netted 12 points. Warren Allen came up with nine points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

The night before, despite two shots to tie in the closing seconds, St. Ambrose was unable to overcome a slow start in the three-point loss to Grace Bible College.

After trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half and still down nine at 72-63 with five minutes left, SAU made a late push.

A Kerr 3-pointer sparked a 10-2 run to close the gap to 74-73 with 2:20 left. The Tigers scored the next three points before a Hardrick free throw with 1:25 remaining put the deficit at 77-74.

Allen came up with a steal but Kerr's layup was blocked. After Allen tracked down the offensive board, Meeske's misfired on a game-tying three. Another Grace turnover gave St. Ambrose a final shot, but Dylan Kaczmarek's three in the final seconds was off the mark.

Meeske and Allen shared team-high scoring honors with 16 points apiece. Kerr notched a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds off the bench. Hardrick dropped in 11 points.

SAU will tip off CCAC play Wednesday at home against Olivet Nazarene.