JOLIET, Ill. — The Trinity Christian men's basketball team was unable to come away with a victory Saturday (Jan. 24), falling 68-56 to the host University of St. Francis (Ill.) Fighting Saints despite 19 points from Brandon Adorno.

USF jumped out to a 9-0 lead to open the contest, and TCC was unable to recover. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Garrett Greene followed by a layup from Wandy Ortiz cut the deficit to 24-19 with 7:18 remaining in the first half.

The Fighting Saints responded to push the lead back to nine with under 90 seconds to play before halftime. Trinity Christian closed the half with two straight layups from Munoz and Adorno, trimming the margin to 33-28 at the break.

Greene opened the scoring in the second half with a basket to pull the Trolls within three. Moments later, Aiden Cilladi completed a three-point play to make it a one-point game at 35-34 with under 15 minutes to play.

USF answered with an 11-0 run over the next two minutes to build a 46-34 advantage. The Fighting Saints maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way and secured the 68-56 victory.

UP NEXT
Trinity Christian looks to respond Wednesday, Jan. 28, when the Trolls travel to South Bend, Ind., to face the IU South Bend Titans. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.