‘Finishing’ is one of the key words the Greenwich High School boys basketball season will follow for the remainder of the season.

The Cardinals have been in the majority of their games this season, with most of them being decided in the final three minutes of action. Unfortunately, for the Cardinals, they haven’t received the end result they’ve been seeking in most of their close matchups and Tuesday night’s game against Trumbull was the latest example.

Trailing by only two points in the fourth quarter to a Trumbull team with only one loss so far this season, Greenwich couldn’t get their shots to fall down the stretch in a 75-66 loss at home.

With the victory, the Eagles ran their record to an outstanding 12-1 overall and impressive 7-1 in the FCIAC. Greenwich, meanwhile, dropped to 3-9 overall and 1-7 in the FCIAC.

The defeat was the third straight for the Cardinals, who lost a close decision to Staples on the road recently (57-49) and have also been edged in tight fourth-quarter games against Brien McMahon, St. Joseph and Wilton.

“Once again the same thing, when we ran our offense and ran it through, we got great looks, we got easy baskets, we got some layups,” Greenwich coach Todd Trimmer said. “We cut it to two in the fourth quarter and then we got out of what we were trying to do, we forced shots. We’re playing well enough to win, we just don’t sustain it enough for the entire game.”

Junior guard Ryan Brennan scored a career-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers to power Greenwich’s offense. Senior point guard Connor Parkes added 13 points, eight of which came in the first half for the Cardinals. Sandro Scott, a junior guard/forward contributed 11 points, including one 3-pointer for Greenwich, which trailed Trumbull, 29-16, after the first quarter and 44-34 at halftime.

The Cards closed to within 61-56 following three quarters of action, outscoring the Golden Eagles, 22-17, in the third quarter. Trumbull, which extended its winning streak to five games and have lost to only Fairfield Warde so far this winter, were led offensively by junior guard Ryan Johnston’s 19 points. Johnston converted three 3-pointers on the way to his 19-point effort.

Senior guard Owen Bull posted 17 points, with 11 coming during the opening half, while teammate Sean Wilson, a sophomore guard, added 14 points. Sophomore guard Brandon Fowler also scored in double figures for the Eagles, tallying 13 points.

“Our lapses cost us, offensively and defensively,” Trimmer said. “That’s a very good team and we held our own with them. We’re 3-9, we could be 8-4. That’s a good team, we just have to keep getting better and we have to trust the process.”

“We’ve got some young guys who need to fill in some gaps,” Trimmer continued. “The Staples game, we had a lead with four minutes to go. Our last 10 possessions on offense we took seven bad shots. We kind of went away from what we do. That was a prelude to this game. We’re just short – we can’t afford to play 25 minutes.”

A 3-pointer from the top of the key from junior guard Blake Martin cut Trumbull’s advantage to 61-59 with 7:40 remaining in the fourth quarter. Wilson then made two key baskets for Trumbull, extending its lead to 64-59.

The Eagles opened a 69-58 lead, but the Cardinals closed to within 69-64 with 4:30 left to play in the final quarter on 3-pointers by Parkes and senior guard Zach Zazula. However, the home team managed to score just two points the final four minutes of action.

“I thought the first three quarters we played extremely well against an extremely good team,” said Parkes, the Cardinals’ leading scorer for the season. “The first quarter, they threw a punch at us. We came back strong and it was a two-point game at the end of the third quarter. We just have to finish games to have a better record.”

Senior guard/forward Jonathan Brennan and junior guard Oliver Suppo scored six points apiece for the Cardinals, who play another home game tonight against another formidable FCIAC foe – Danbury.

“We are so much better than our record, we had a lot of heart-breaking losses,” Parkes noted. “St. Joe’s, we didn’t finish, McMahon we didn’t finish, Staples we didn’t finish, so that’s the thing we have to work on in practice – finishing.”

Brennan aided the Cards’ comeback versus Trumbull, scoring 12 third-quarter points.

“Brennan was amazing,” Parkes said. “He put up good, quality shots. I saw he was hot today, so I really did try to get him the ball and he lifted the team and gave the team a boost.”

Said Trimmer of Greenwich’s schedule: “It’s not getting easier, either next week. Danbury, Ridgefield, Trumbull are the big three of the FCIAC. This game shows these kids we can play with anybody. We can make it a two-point game with a minute to go against anybody.”