St. Ambrose squandered a 16-point second-half lead in an 81-78 loss at Trinity Christian Saturday afternoon.

The No. 18-ranked Bees led 56-40 on a Jake Meeske layup six minutes into the second half. The margin was still 14 two minutes later at 59-45 on a Michael Williams 3-pointer.

But Trinity Christian (4-10, 1-5 CCAC), which hit 8-of-17 3-pointers in the second half, steadily climbed back into the game and grabbed a 68-67 lead with less than four minutes to play. That set up a back-and-forth two-minute stretch where the teams exchanged the lead seven times.

Tom Kazanecki's jumper gave SAU its final lead at 74-73 with 1:48 remaining. After the Trolls scored to retake the lead, Williams and Meeske each misfired on a three and Dylan Kaczmarek came up empty inside. That led to a TCC layup for a 77-74 game. A Bee turnover led to two free throws with 11 seconds on the clock, and made two Meeske layups sandwiched around a pair of Troll free throws in the final five seconds meaningless.

The loss spoiled a 26-point, eight-rebound performance from Meeske. Williams finished with 20 points and 10 boards and John Kerr added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Kazanecki had eight points, Alex Portwood scored seven, and Kaczmarek added five points, five rebounds and five assists.

The Bees, losers of three in a row, will have a week to get ready for a home game next Saturday against St. Francis. Tip-off at Lee Lohman Arena is scheduled for 3 p.m.