After a two-week layoff, which included a nine-day trip to Ireland, No. 18 St. Ambrose rallied from a 20-point second-half deficit to post a 68-65 win at Governors State Wednesday night.

The Bees, ranked in the top 25 for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign, shot better than 60 percent from the floor in the second half to move to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the CCAC.

John Kerr completed the comeback, scoring the game's final eight points over the last minutes. It was his 3-pointer that trimmed the deficit to 65-63 before his two free throws tied the score. After another defensive stop, Kerr hit 1-of-2 from the line with 19 seconds remaining to give St. Ambrose a 66-65 lead, the team's first lead since a 2-0 advantage in the opening minute.

Kerr then pulled down a rebound on a missed Jaguar free throw leading to his two final free throws with three seconds to play to end the scoring. SAU intercepted a desperation pass on the game's final play to seal the win.

Kerr was 6-of-7 from the floor in scoring 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. He also led all players with 15 rebounds, six of those coming on the offensive end.

Tom Kazanecki also provided a second-half spark, shooting 5-of-6 from the field in netting 10 points in 14 second-half minutes.

St. Ambrose outscored the defending CCAC champions 45-25 over the game's final 20 minutes.

Along with shooting 60.7 percent (17-of-28), the Bees did it defensively, limiting the Jaguars to 28.6 percent shooting (8-of-28) in the second half. SAU also claimed a 23-15 advantage on the boards after halftime.

The big second half came after a sluggish start that saw the Bees misfire on all 13 of their 3-point attempts in the opening half.

Governors State (4-8, 2-2 CCAC) took advantage, racing ahead 40-23 at the half and ultimately leading 45-25 two minutes into the second half. St. Ambrose still trailed by 17 at 56-39 with 11 minutes to go before an 8-1 run, fueled by four points from Michael Williams, cut the deficit to 57-47. After GSU scored to rebuild a 12-point lead, SAU ripped off 11 straight points, seven of those from Kerr, to close to within 59-58 with four minutes on the clock. That set up Kerr's final charge to get the Bees their fourth straight victory.

Warren Allen finished with 15 points and eight rebounds in the win. Kazanecki totaled 14 points off the bench. Kerr, Allen and Kazanecki combined for 52 of SAU's 68 points. Williams scored six points and Jake Meeske and Dylan Kaczmarek each dropped in five. Meeske was also credited with a game-high six assists.

St. Ambrose will return to Lee Lohman Arena Saturday for its first home game since Nov. 7 when the team hosts Cardinal Stritch. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.