After a Jake Meeske three-point play with nine seconds remaining helped force overtime, the Bees scored the first seven points of the extra session to knock off No. 19 St. Francis (Ill.) 85-78 Tuesday night in Joliet, Ill.

With St. Ambrose trailing 71-70, Meeske drove the lane and converted a layup while getting fouled. His free throw gave the Bees a 73-71 lead. St. Francis (3-2, 2-2 CCAC) was able to draw a foul with 1.8 seconds on the clock and hit both free throws to send the game to overtime.

The Bees, who trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, controlled the extra five minutes.

Meeske, who had just two points before his late heroics in regulation, started OT with two free throws and then added a short jumper for a 77-73 lead. After a John Kerr steal, Meeske misfired on a 3-pointer but Ben Schols pulled down the offensive rebound, which led to Meeske finding Kerr underneath for a three-point play to extend the lead to 80-73 with 2:18 remaining.

The Saints got as close as three points at 81-78 with 22 seconds left, but two free throws from Schols made it a two possession game, and after a USF turnover, Kerr knocked down two more from the line in the closing seconds to end the scoring.

The Bees held the Saints to 1-of-9 shooting in overtime.

Kerr led St. Ambrose with 17 points and eight rebounds. Michael Williams scored 14 and Schols had 13. Dylan Kaczmarek scored all 10 of his points in the second half to give SAU four players in double figures. Meeske netted nine points.

Kaczmarek led a second-half charge that saw the Bees rally from a 44-34 halftime deficit. He scored the final five points of a 15-2 run to open the second half that put SAU in front 49-46.

St. Francis pulled ahead 67-61 with just over four minutes left but 3-pointers from Trey Affolter, Schols and Kaczmarek trimmed the deficit to 71-70 inside the final minute. The Bees got a stop leading to Meeske's three-point play and eventually overtime.

The Saints were able to build a double-digit lead thanks to hitting 9-of-14 from beyond the arc in the first half. But after halftime, they connected on just 3-of-14 3-point tries.

The Bees finished with a 43-32 rebounding advantage and outscored the Saints 19-10 from the line in the win.

St. Ambrose (6-1, 3-0 CCAC) will look to start a season 7-1 for the second straight year when they host Trinity International Saturday at 3 p.m.