Playing for the fourth time in seven days. Down two starters. Against the No. 10-ranked team in the country.

It all proved a little too much for St. Ambrose to overcome as the Bees fell to No. 10 Marian 74-67 Sunday afternoon in Lee Lohman Arena.

The Bees, playing without both Tom Kazanecki and Ben Schols, gave the Knights all they could handle in the second half.

After trailing by as many as 16 points in the opening half and down by 14 early in the second, SAU brought it within a one-score game several times down the stretch.

Two Dylan Kaczmarek free throws capped a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 57-56 with just over eight minutes remaining. The Bees got a stop and John Kerr had a good look at a go-ahead 3-pointer but it rattled out. Marian (6-1) followed with a six-point run of its own to rebuild a 63-56 edge.

Minutes later, a Kerr three-point play closed the gap to 66-64 but that was immediately followed by four straight Marian points.

Inside the final minute, Jake Conerty hit 1-of-2 from the line to put the deficit at 70-67, but Marian responded with a layup, and after an SAU turnover, the Knights hit two free throws to end the scoring.

The Bees limited the nationally-ranked Knights to less than 42 percent shooting from the floor, including a 6-of-25 mark from beyond the arc.

SAU committed 14 turnovers while only forcing five, helping Marian attempt 17 more field goal attempts than St. Ambrose.

Kerr led the Bees with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Michael Williams scored 12 of his 13 points in the second half to help keep SAU close. Kaczmarek scored nine points.

St. Ambrose also got some big contributions off the bench. Nathan Moeller hit two 3-pointers and finished with eight points and eight boards. Conerty totaled five points, seven rebounds and a game-high eight assists. Warren Allen (five points) and Will Spriggs (four) combined for nine points in the loss.

SAU, now 4-2 overall, is not scheduled to play again until opening CCAC play Jan. 2 at Judson.

Videos below courtesy SAUtv

John Kerr finds Zach Sullivan for a layup to cut the deficit to 43-33

Jake Friel scores and gets fouled - his 3-point play cuts the margin to 47-40

Jake Friel finds Michael Williams to pull SAU to within 47-43

John Kerr completes a three-point play to trim the margin to 66-64