St. Ambrose relied on its defense and a big second-half run to grit out a 61-54 victory over Roosevelt Saturday afternoon in Lee Lohman Arena.

The Bees limited the Lakers to 32 percent shooting in the first half and 36 percent for the game while dominating the boards 50-24.

The Roosevelt Lakers (12-6, 7-4 CCAC) opened the second half with five quick points to knot the game at 29-all, but a Will Spriggs three-pointer ignited a 12-1 run for St. Ambrose. Four Bees found a basket during the run which was capped off by back-to-back running jump shots from Jake Friel to put the Bees ahead 42-30.

The Lakers retaliated with a run of their own, outscoring the Bees 12-2 to tie the game back up at 44.

With the momentum slipping away from St. Ambrose, Friel buried a deep three at the top of the key with the shot clock expiring to retake the lead, a lead the Bees would hold on to for the remainder of the game.

The Bees added fuel to the fire with a Tom Kazanecki three-point play followed by a Patrick Torrey fastbreak dunk to catapult the Bees to a six-point lead.

Clinging on to that lead, a corner-three from Kazanecki placed the finishing touches on the game. Spriggs and Ben Schols both hit free throws down the stretch to stymie any potential Roosevelt comeback.

Kazanecki and Spriggs led the Bees with 14 points each. Friel and Schols both finished in double-figures as well, scoring 12 and 10, respectively.

Torrey brought down a game-high 13 rebounds and Kazanecki nabbed 11 to record his seventh double-double of the season. Guards Spriggs and Friel grabbed eight boards apiece.

The Bees improve to 7-11 overall and 6-7 in the CCAC following the win. They continue conference play on the road at Indiana Northwest on Wednesday.