Jake Conerty scored four points in the final 16 seconds to help St. Ambrose rally from an 11-point second-half deficit for a 72-69 win over Mount Mercy Thursday afternoon at Lee Lohman Arena.

The big play came inside the final 20 seconds. The Bees had cut what was once a 65-54 deficit to just 69-68 on a Ben Schols 3-pointer with 32 seconds to play. Schols then came up with a steal and passed ahead to Conerty, who hit a floater in the lane to give SAU a 70-69 lead with 16 seconds on the clock.

The Mustangs (3-5) came right back but misfired on a long three. Conerty tracked the rebound and was fouled with 0.6 seconds remaining. He knocked down both free throws. Mount Mercy's desperation three from beyond half-court was off the mark at the buzzer.

In all, the Bees outscored the Mustangs 18-4 over the final five-plus minutes, including a 10-1 run over the final 2:25, to move to 5-2 on the season.

It never looked like St. Ambrose would need a second-half comeback after the Bees opened up a 29-20 lead on a John Kerr 3-pointer late in the first half.

But Mount Mercy scored the final 10 points of the half, including a 3-pointer in the final seconds, to take the lead and then a sloppy second half nearly cost St. Ambrose.

The Bees committed 13 of their 22 turnovers after halftime, allowing the Mustangs to build the double-digit advantage.

But SAU got big baskets from Kerr, Dylan Kaczmarek, Warren Allen, Schols and Conerty down the stretch.

It was Kaczmarek who completed a three-point play to trim the margin to 65-57 seconds after MMU had built its largest lead. Kerr hit a free throw and Allen knocked down a jumper in the lane to cut the deficit to just 65-62 and get SAU back in the came, leading to Schols' and Conerty's late heroics.

Kerr scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the second half. He also grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds. Kerr hit four 3-pointers in eight attempts, a number matched by Schols, who was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range in scoring 15 points.

Allen (10 points) and Conerty (eight) combined for 18 of the Bee reserves' 23 points.

SAU struggled to slow a Mount Mercy team that shot 50 percent from the floor, but the Bees were aided by a 44-25 rebounding advantage.

Kaczmarek grabbed nine rebounds to go along with his five points and five assists.

St. Ambrose will open 2021 and CCAC play on Saturday at Judson.

Videos below courtesy SAUtv

Michael Williams opens the scoring with a layup off a nice pass from John Kerr

Ben Schols hits a step-back jumper to put SAU in front 20-18

Ben Schols buries a 3-pointer for a 26-20 St. Ambrose advantage

Dylan Kaczmarek finds John Kerr for a three and a 34-32 lead early in the second half

One more of John Kerr's four 3-pointers; this one opens up a 37-35 lead