St. Ambrose missed 10 of its first 11 shots from the floor and never fully recovered in a 74-69 loss to Holy Cross Saturday afternoon at Lee Lohman Arena.

A Will Spriggs layup was the only basket for the Bees in the opening six-plus minutes. The senior guard added a pair of free throws to account for all of SAU's points as the team faced a 19-4 deficit in the early going.

It was a game of missed opportunites. St. Ambrose (6-2, 1-2 CCAC) missed several layups, struggled from beyond the arc, and shot just 12-of-18 from the line.

Despite the difficulties, the Bees were able to get as close as two points but never held the lead.

After watching Holy Cross (4-5, 2-1 CCAC) rebuild a 12-point lead in the second half, St. Ambrose battled back.

Behind a huge second half from Grant Mason, the Bees were able to get as close as four points on several occasions down the stretch.

Mason, who scored 17 of his team-high 20 points over the final 20 minutes, hit a layup following a Guillermo Narbona 3-pointer and a Ryan Kenney jumper to cut the margin to 58-54.

It was the first of four times Mason scored to get SAU to within four points. He hit a three to cut the deficit to 63-59. He later scored inside to put the score at 65-61. And the last time the Bees were within four came at 67-63 after two Mason free throws.

But that was followed by a dry spell as St. Ambrose missed its next two shots and committed a turnover. Collin Wainscott split two free throws was the only Bee point during a 5-1 Saint run that put Holy Cross in front 72-64 with 24 seconds left.

Kieran Farrell knocked down a 3-pointer to get SAU to within 72-67 but two Holy Cross free throws with eight seconds left sealed the win. Mason scored on a putback right before the final buzzer to end the scoring.

Spriggs and Atem Agot each scored 11 points to give St. Ambrose three players in double figures.

Narbona scored eight, Ignacio Dacunda added six, and Wainscott and Solomon Garrison each netted four. Farrell had three and Kenney two in the loss.

Dacunda led the team with nine rebounds.

SAU will play an exhibition game at Drake Thursday before returning to CCAC play next Saturday at home against Calumet.