Despite shooting nearly 56 percent from the floor, St. Ambrose came up just short in an 83-80 setback to Indiana South Bend Saturday afternoon at Lee Lohman Arena.

As has been the case many times already this season, the difference came from the free throw line. IU South Bend (14-10, 11-5 CCAC) made 17 in 22 attempts while St. Ambrose (14-9, 7-9 CCAC) was just 4-of-9.

The Bees trailed 75-63 with just over four minutes to play before making things interesting down the stretch.

A Collin Wainscott 3-pointer and a three-point play from Grant Mason cut the deficit in half. After the Titans made a free throw, Atem Agot scored inside and then Ignacio Dacunda made a pair from the line to close the gap to 76-73 with 1:37 to play.

The teams traded 3-pointers with one from Will Spriggs putting the score at 79-76 inside the final minute. SAU got the ball back and Mason scored at the rim to get the Bees to within a single point with nine seconds remaining.

IUSB made two free throws to go back up three. Spriggs drove in for a layup and St. Ambrose was forced to foul, sending the Titans to the line with 0.7 seconds left. Two final free throws accounted for the final score as SAU's last-ditch effort sailed out of bounds.

The Bees trailed virtually the entire first half after falling behind 9-2 early. They were able to get to within 40-38 at the break.

St. Ambrose opened the second half with a 12-7 run with a layup from Agot giving the team its largest lead of the contest at 50-47 just over six minutes into the half. That's when IU South Bend regained control, leading to the Titans' double-digit lead.

Agot led the Bees with 20 points. He also had four rebounds and four assists. Spriggs netted 18 points to go along with five boards and four assists.

Dacunda totaled 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Mason gave SAU four players in double figures with 10 points.

Wainscott and Guillermo Narbona each came off the bench to toss in six points. Kieran Farrell added four points and Elgin Bowen Jr. scored three.

St. Ambrose will visit Viterbo Wednesday.