St. Ambrose shook off an expected slow start after a nearly-three week layoff to defeat Hannibal-LaGrange 82-79 Thursday night at Lee Lohman Arena.

Five Bees finished in double figures in the win.

Playing for the first time in 19 days, SAU fell behind 7-0 within the game's first two minutes. But trailing 11-5, the Bees found their stride. Over a six-minute stretch, the Bees outscored the Trojans 17-2. It was a lead they would never surrender.

Newcomer Jalen Jones started the run with his first basket as a Bee. Greg Wagner contributed five points during the stretch, including a 3-pointer that gave St. Ambrose a 16-11 lead. In all, six different Bees scored during the run that ended with a Blake Buls jumper for a 22-12 lead with just over eight minutes left in the half.

SAU maintained a 10-point lead at the break and pushed the lead to 46-32 on baskets from John Kerr and Buls in the opening stages of the second half.

Hannibal-LaGrange (5-8) clawed to within five with under five minutes to play but Jones knocked down a big 3-pointer to extend the lead to 70-62.

Jake Meeske was 8-for-8 from the line over the final two minutes and Dylan Kaczmarek also hit two late free throws that helped St. Ambrose hold on after the Trojans got as close as three points three times in the final 30 seconds.

SAU outscored HLG 23-10 from the line.

Meeske and Jones shared the team lead in scoring, each dropping in 15 points. Jones added seven boards in his SAU debut. Kaczmarek, Buls and Kerr each scored 10 points, and Lee Hardrick came off the bench to add eight points. Wagner scored seven. Buls grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

The Bees, winners of three in a row to move to 8-7 on the year, will return to CCAC play Saturday with a road game at No. 13 Trinity International. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.