St. Ambrose went toe-to-toe with No. 6 Concordia (Mich.) for much of three quarters Saturday. But the Cardinals put up 21 points in the third on their way to a 41-24 win in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Bees trailed just 20-17 after a Kaden King 60-yard touchdown run midway through the third. On the ensuing kickoff, Concordia used a 75-yard return to set up a short field. And two plays later, the Cardinals punched in a touchdown to build a 27-17 lead.

SAU marched to midfield, but facing a 4th-and-4, Tom Casey was sacked giving the ball back to Concordia. Another touchdown followed to put the Bees in a 41-17 hole. CU tacked on another score midway through the fourth before T'Nahleg Hall added a four-yard touchdown run for St. Ambrose inside the final three minutes.

The Bees held a lead in the second quarter. Casey connected with Justin Wright on a 59-yard touchdown pass in the early stages of the second quarter. Joe Namio's extra point put SAU in front 7-6. But in a sign of things to come, the Bees allowed a 100-yard kickoff return for a score to immediately surrender the lead.

Namio connected on a 26-yard field goal on get St. Ambrose within 13-10 at the half. Concordia rebuilt a 20-10 lead in third before King's long scoring run gave SAU some life.

The Bees nearly matched the Cardinals in total offense, finishing with 317 yards to CU's 329. SAU did much of its damage on the ground, rolling up 173 rushing yards. King led the team with 114 yards. Ray Bouye III had 32 yards, Hall finished with 24 and Cade Gorzny added 21.

Casey completed 16-of-24 passes for 144 yards. Wright caught three passes for 68 yards. Ben Gilbert had a pair of receptions for 27 yards, Demetrius Coleman caught three for 24 and Yemi Ward had two catches for 18 yards.

Major Haas led the defense with 12 total tackles, including eight solo stops. He had two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Zak Alberts was credited with seven tackles. Jake Strater was in on six stops, and Vince Shaw and George Litgen III had five tackles apiece.

St. Ambrose converted just 4-of-14 third-down chances while Concordia was successful on 8-of-15 tries.

The Bees will play their home opener next Saturday against Lawrence Tech. The Homecoming game will kickoff at 1 p.m. from Brady Street Stadium.