A 41-5 disparity at the line overshadowed a strong defensive effort as St. Ambrose suffered a heartbreaking 59-52 loss to Roosevelt Wednesday night.

The Bees were whistled for 30 fouls, which led to a 27-of-41 performance from the line for the Lakers. SAU finished 4-of-5 from the stripe.

Yet St. Ambrose still had its chances, in large part due to its defense.

The Bees held the Lakers to less than 30 percent shooting from the floor and just 22.2 percent on 3-point attempts.

SAU raced out to a 19-5 lead in the game's first nine minutes and maintained a 35-25 lead at the half.

The lead remained double digits six minutes into the second half. That's when St. Ambrose ran into trouble. SAU endured a nearly-six minute scoring drought, turning the ball over five times and missing five shots from the field, allowing Roosevelt (21-4, 12-3) to run off 15 consecutive points to take a 47-44 lead.

The Bees righted the ship and regained a 50-49 lead on a Jalen Jones layup with 6:45 to play. Unfortunately that would prove to be the Bees' final field goal of the night. On their ensuing possession, the Lakers grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds before converting for a 51-50 lead with six minutes left.

Roosevelt then won it from the line, scoring its final eight points of the game on free throws.

Two Jake Meeske free throws brought St. Ambrose to within 56-52 with 27 seconds on the clock. After the Lakers hit 1-of-2 from the line, Meeske missed a three and SAU turned it over with six seconds left leading to two more Roosevelt free throws to end the scoring.

John Kerr led St. Ambrose with 12 points and eight rebounds. Meeske scored 11. Jones and Greg Wagner each netted eight points.

The loss, just SAU's second home conference loss of the year, drops the Bees to 12-13 overall and 6-9 in the CCAC, two games out of eighth place with five games remaining.

St. Ambrose will host Calumet St. Joseph Saturday at 3 p.m. on Fight Like a Flynn Day.