Atem Agot, Will Spriggs and Grant Mason combined for 55 points to lead St. Ambrose to an 87-78 win over Clarke Wednesday night in Lee Lohman Arena.

The three carried the Bees in the second half of their home opener, combining for 35 points and coming up big down the stretch.

After building a 13-point lead in the opening half, SAU watched Clarke rally. The Pride got within 43-36 at the half and ultimately took a 50-47 lead four minutes into the second half.

Collin Wainscott split a pair of free throws to get St. Ambrose to within 59-58 with 11:17 to play. From that point, Agot, Spriggs and Mason went to work. The three scored the final 29 Bee points of the game.

An Agot layup broke a 64-64 tie with 8:43 remaining and gave SAU the lead for good. Mason followed with a layup of his own and later knocked down a free throw for a 69-64 lead. Agot again scored inside to push the margin to 71-64. 

After Clarke got within 73-71, Spriggs buried a 3-pointer to restore a five-point lead. Those were the first of six straight points for Spriggs who extended the lead to 79-73. Mason followed with a three to up the margin to nine points. Clarke (0-3) got no closer than six points the rest of the way.

Over the final 11-plus minutes, Spriggs scored 12 points, Mason had nine and Agot dropped in eight.

Agot came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points. Spriggs finished with 20 and Mason added 14 to help St. Ambrose move to 3-0 on the year. It is the program's first 3-0 start since the 2020-21 team won its first four games to open the year.

Wainscott and Kieran Farrell each contributed nine points. Guillermo Narbona finished with eight points and seven rebounds. Ignacio Dacunda added four points and six boards. Alec Platipodis chipped in with two points. Agot led the team with eight rebounds while Spriggs handed out a team-high three assists.

St. Ambrose shot better than 50 percent from the floor, connecting on 32-of-63 attempts, good for a 50.8-percent mark. The Bees also finished with a 43-28 advantage on the boards.

SAU will host Mount Mercy Monday night.