Will Spriggs made four free throws over the final 22 seconds to help St. Ambrose hold off Judson 76-74 in the team's CCAC opener Wednesday night in Lee Lohman Arena.

The Bees had led by as many as 15 points at 59-44 on a Nathan Moeller layup midway through the second half before the Eagles made a late charge.

Judson (2-2, 1-1 CCAC) closed to within two points at 69-67 inside the final two minutes. Ben Schols responded with a driving layup before the Eagles again got within a single basket. Spriggs calmly knocked down the first pair of free throws with 22 seconds remaining to restore a 73-69 advantage.

After Judson hit two free throws of its own with 12 seconds left, Spriggs was again sent to the line where he delivered two more points. The Eagles hit a 3-pointer to close to within 75-74 with two seconds on the clock. This time it was Drake Gunn's turn at the line, where he hit 1-of-2 for a 76-74 lead. Judson's final inbounds pass under the SAU basket was deflected as time ran out.

The win came after a slow start for the Bees.

The Eagles led 14-6 seven minutes in before a Spriggs 3-pointer gave the Bees an 18-16 lead midway through the half. SAU built a 33-26 lead on a Gunn layup before Judson closed the half on a 12-5 run to tie the game at 38-38 at the half.

After the Eagles took a 42-41 lead in the opening minutes of the second half, the Bees went on a huge 18-2 run. Schols, who was scoreless in the first half, sparked the surge. He hit two free throws to put SAU in front, then after a Spriggs layup, Schols hit a pair of 3-pointers for a 51-42 edge.

Judson got two points back before Patrick Torrey's jumper started a string of eight straight Bee points. Moeller had four of those points and Kieran Farrell scored the other two to give St. Ambrose its largest lead of the night before Judson made the game interesting late.

Spriggs led SAU with 17 points. Tom Kazanecki added 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Schols and Moeller each netted 10 points. Grant Mason came off the bench to throw in nine points. Jake Conerty led the team with four assists.

St. Ambrose, now 2-0 overall, will play twice at the Clarke Holiday Inn Tip-Off Classic, starting with a 5 p.m. game Friday against No. 14 Marian. The Bees will then face either Clarke or McPherson Saturday.