St. Ambrose just couldn't get over the hump.

The Bees fell behind early, and despite a second-half rally, never pulled in front in an 84-78 home loss to Roosevelt Thursday night.

SAU trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half and the deficit was still 11 at 46-35 with 15 minutes left in the game. The Bees slowly rallied and a Tom Kazanecki layup capped a 5-0 run to tie the game at 56-56 with just over nine minutes remaining.

Roosevelt (8-4, 3-1 CCAC) immediately answered with a 3-pointer to regain a 59-56 lead. Michael Williams scored for the Bees and was fouled but he missed a free throw, one of 11 misses from the line for the team. The Lakers converted a three-point play of their own that sparked a 9-0 run to push the advantage to double figures.

A Jake Meeske three got St. Ambrose as close as 76-71 with 1:19 to play but Roosevelt hit eight straight free throws over the final 36 seconds to hand SAU its first CCAC loss of the season.

The Lakers connected on 22-of-24 free throws, including 19-of-20 in the second half. Meanwhile the Bees shot just 17-of-28 from the line. Roosevelt also knocked down 14 3-pointers in 37 attempts while SAU was 5-of-19 from beyond the arc.

St. Ambrose was able to stay close thanks to a 48-30 rebounding advantage that featured 18 offensive boards.

Warren Allen helped the Bees outscore the Lakers 51-46 in the second half by scoring 19 of his game-high 25 points over the final 20 minutes. He also grabbed 13 rebounds. Meeske also had a big second half, scoring 10 of his 17 points after the break. The Bees shot nearly 57 percent from the floor in the second half but it wasn't enough to overcome a 38-27 halftime deficit after the team shot just 32 percent.

Kazanecki came off the bench to score 11 points. John Kerr finished with nine points and 10 rebounds and Williams added six points.

SAU (7-3, 3-1 CCAC) will look to snap its first two-game losing streak of the year Saturday with a 3 p.m. game at Trinity Christian.