Another slow start doomed the Bees.

For the second straight game, No. 11 St. Ambrose found itself in an early hole it was unable to climb out of. Sunday, the Bees fell 81-68 to Marian (Ind.) in a first-round game of the Saint Xavier Midwest Tournament.

The loss, SAU's second in a row, drops the team to 9-4 overall.

After trailing the entire way in a loss at Olivet Nazarene Tuesday, the Bees led for only 29 seconds Sunday.

That lead came right away as Nick Frazier's scored the game's first two points. From there, the Bees struggled to get much going offensively, shooting just 35.7 percent in the first half.

Marian (7-4) built a 10-point lead midway through the opening half and took a 34-26 lead into the halftime break.

And while SAU's shooting picked up in the second half, the Bees could not contain the Knights. St. Ambrose shot 53.8 percent after the half but Marian shot at a sizzling 71.4 percent clip.

Eric Adkins sparked a rally with a 3-pointer and a steal that led to a Sam Ainsworth free throw to get the Bees to within seven points at 60-53 with just over seven minutes remaining. But SAU never got any closer the rest of the way.

Frazier scored 17 of his team-high 19 points in the second half. Ainsworth was the only other Bee to reach double figures, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor. Darian White scored nine.

Snapping the two-game slide won't be easy as St. Ambrose will play No. 6 Davenport Monday at 4 p.m. on the second day of the three-day tournament.