A good start and a great close helped St. Ambrose tip off the New Year with a 65-57 win over Trinity Christian Saturday afternoon at Lee Lohman Arena.

The Bees raced out to a 13-3 lead seven minutes into the game but then had to overcome a 13-point second-half deficit to begin a stretch of three conference games in five days with a victory.

Nikos Gerokostas had six points and Guillermo Narbona five during the opening stretch that gave SAU an early 10-point lead.

But then the Bees struggled to score.

Trinity Christian (6-8, 3-3 CCAC) closed the half on a 25-12 run to take a 28-25 lead at the break. The Trolls extended their lead to as many as 14 points at 42-29 with 14 minutes to play.

Then St. Ambrose (5-8, 2-3 CCAC) came back to life as the Bees outscored the Trolls 36-15 over those final 14 minutes.

Solomon Garrison knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored nine points during a 16-2 spurt that ended with a Razak Sudani free throw that put SAU in front 45-44.

Trinity Christian scored six points in a row to regain a 50-45 lead before St. Ambrose came right back.

Narbona dropped in five points and Sudani knotted the score at 52-52 with a layup. After TCC retook a 53-52 lead, Garrison hit four consecutive free throws to give SAU a 56-53 advantage, and the Bees would not trail again.

The Trolls stayed close getting to within 56-55 before Narbona drilled a three. Then inside the final minute, two TCC free throws cut the deficit to 59-57. But Collin Wainscott made two free throws and Narbona sealed the win with four free throws in the final 17 seconds.

Both teams struggled offensively with SAU (22-of-62, 35.5 percent) slightly outshooting TCC (18-of-53, 34 percent) from the field. Each team attempted 25 3-pointers with the Bees making six and the Trolls converting five.

Narbona led all scorers with 29 points. Twenty of those points came in the second half. He also pulled down nine rebounds.

Garrison came off the bench to drop in 14 points, 12 of those after halftime. Narbona and Garrison combined for 32 of the team's 40 second-half points.

Gerokostas scored eight points while grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. Wainscott and Nolan Deitrich each netted five points.

Sudani finished with three points and five rebounds in providing a spark in his six second-half minutes. Zane Witt added a single point. Kieran Farrell came up with five boards.

St. Ambrose will hit the road for games at Saint Xavier Monday and Olivet Nazarene Wednesday.