Williams nets 32, Schols hits free throws late in SAU win

Williams nets 32, Schols hits free throws late in SAU win

Michael Williams scored a career-high 32 points and Ben Schols hit two free throws with eight seconds left to help St. Ambrose offset a flurry of Lincoln College 3-pointers in a 93-92 win Saturday afternoon.

The Schols free throws came after Lincoln grabbed a 92-91 lead on the team's 20th 3-pointer of the game. The free throws gave Schols 17 points and the Bees a 93-92 lead. The Lynx were unable to get off a final shot.

Schols and John Kerr (26 points, 7 rebounds) were overshadowed by Williams, who finished 11-of-15 from the floor. He knocked down 5-of-7 3-point attempts and was 5-of-6 from the line.

The Bees needed every one of those points to move to 11-3 overall and 6-1 in the CCAC.

Lincoln (6-6, 3-2) finished 20-of-36 from beyond the arc. The Lynx first five baskets were triples as they led 15-4 early. They hit 12 threes in the first half but the Bees trailed just 48-43 in large part thanks to 17 first-half points from Williams.

St. Ambrose found itself down 74-63 with 11 minutes remaining, but Williams and Kerr combined for all 12 points in a 12-0 run that gave SAU a 75-74 lead with just over eight minutes left. The Bees were able to build a 91-87 lead inside the final two minutes before the Lynx scored five straight points leading to Schols' late heroics.

Behind Williams, Kerr (11-of-17) and Schols (5-of-9), the Bees shot nearly 58 percent from the field as a team.

Kerr hauled in seven rebounds, helping SAU out-rebound Lincoln 31-22.

Dylan Kaczmarek nearly gave the Bees four players in double figures as he scored nine points.

St. Ambrose will visit one of the other two one-loss CCAC teams in Holy Cross next Saturday.