Currently sitting just outside a postseason tournament spot, the Bees kept their playoff hopes alive with a must-win 94-88 win over Calumet St. Joseph Saturday afternoon at Lee Lohman Arena.

Five Bees scored in double figures and Jake Meeske (28 points, 10 rebounds) and Jalen Jones (17 points, 11 rebounds) each posted a double-double to even SAU's overall record at 13-13. At 7-9 in the CCAC, the Bees remain in 10th place, but sit just one game behind four teams tied with 8-8 records and two games back of a pair of teams with 9-7 marks.

SAU was able to build an early lead behind its defense. Calumet (14-9, 8-8 CCAC) connected on one of its first seven shots from the field as St. Ambrose raced to a fast 21-5 lead. The Bees held the Crimson Wave to 8-of-34 shooting (23.5 percent) in the opening half. Behind 13 points from Jones and 12 from Meeske, the Bees built a 22-point lead at one point before settling for a 48-34 advantage at the break.

St. Ambrose pushed the lead to 18 points on a Michael Williams three-point play, and led 69-52 with nine minutes left.

Just three days after letting a double-digit lead evaporate over the final 12 minutes in a home loss to Roosevelt, the Bees allowed the Wave to make things interesting.

Calumet closed to within seven points with six minutes left. Meeske responded with a layup and four straight free throws to fight off the first challenge.

With less than two minutes remaining, two Dylan Kaczmarek free throws gave the Bees a seemingly insurmountable 86-72 lead. But over the next five possessions, St. Ambrose committed four turnovers and missed a pair of free throws as the Wave ran off 10 straight points to cut the deficit to 86-82 with 38 seconds on the clock.

Meeske stopped the run with two free throws and after a defensive stop, Jones hit two more for a 90-82 lead. Kaczmarek and Meeske combined for four free throws over the final 10 seconds to seal the victory.

John Kerr registered 14 points and six rebounds in 17 minutes before fouling out. Blake Buls finished with 11 points and seven boards. Williams dropped in 10 points.

In a game featuring 76 free throws, the Bees went 38-of-47 from the line. SAU also finished with a 58-37 advantage on the boards to help offset 26 turnovers, 18 of those coming in the second half.

St. Ambrose will next visit No. 24 Governors State Wednesday.