As the season winds down, every game carries serious implications on the conference tournaments.

Wednesday night's game was no exception.

The St. Ambrose Fighting Bees welcomed the challenge when the St. Francis Fighting Saints (13-15, 10-11 CCAC) rolled into Lee Lohman Arena Wednesday night, a team that sat one game ahead of them in the conference standings.

The game lived up to expectations.

After the first 10 minutes of play, the game was tied at 15-all. Jake Conerty then knocked down a tough, fadeaway jumped from the elbow to ignite a 10-0 run for the Fighting Bees, capped off by a driving layup from Grant Mason.

The Bees led by as many as 13 in the first half, but the Saints were able to cut it to single digits at the break. St. Ambrose built the lead back up to 10, but a big Saints run that was capped off by a Nadav Gerner transition three gave St. Francis the lead and the momentum.

Gerner celebrated a bit too hard and was given a technical foul for taunting. St. Francis head coach Ryan Marks, who had already been given a techincal in the first half, was not happy with the call and was awarded his second technical and was subsequently ejected.

As the fans in Lee Lohman relished the coach's ejection, Ben Schols made the Saints pay. Schols hit all four of the techincal free throws to retake the lead.

With every lead the Bees would build, the Saints would chip away at it. However, St. Ambrose would play tough defense down the stretch to hold on for the win. The held a 62-61 lead with 2:48 to play and would only allow one made basket for the remainder of the game. Schols and Tom Kazanecki both hit free throws in the final minute to seal the 67-63 win.

Kazanecki led all scorers with 18 while snagging eight rebounds. Schols went 7-of-8 from the charity stripe and finished with 12. Will Spriggs and Jake Friel both added 10 apiece. Mason came off the bench to add seven points and Conerty led the Bees with nine boards.

The win improves the Bees to 13-15 overall and 10-11 in conference play. The Bees are now tied for eighth place in the CCAC standings with St. Francis. The Fighting Bees will play their final regular-season game on Saturday at IU-South Bend.