St. Ambrose was outscored 50-30 in a 74-61 loss to McPherson on the second day of the Holiday Inn Tip-Off Classic hosted by Clarke.

The Bees had led 31-24 at the half before the Bulldogs exploded from beyond the arc. McPherson (4-1) hit 10 3-pointers in the second half to overwhelm St. Ambrose.

Leading by seven points at the break, SAU scored just four points in the first eight-plus minutes of the second half. The Bulldogs opened the half with a 29-4 run to open up a 53-35 lead. The only Bee points came on a Drake Gunn 3-pointer and a free throw from Jake Conerty. 

After Conerty's free throw gave the Bees a 35-33 lead, the Bulldogs' scored 15 points on five triples. A two-point jumper was followed by another three to cap the run.

The deficit grew to as many as 27 points in the second half before SAU battled back to close to within 13 at the end.

Grant Mason led St. Ambrose with 16 points. Gunn scored 15 and Tom Kazanecki added 10.

Ben Schols finished with eight points and Conerty and Will Spriggs each netted five.

SAU shot less than 40 percent from the field and converted on just 3-of-17 from 3-point range. The Bees also committed 17 turnovers in the loss.

St. Ambrose, now 2-2 overall, returns to CCAC play Wednesday when the Bees host Olivet Nazarene.