St. Ambrose struggled to stop the duo of Sam Emich and Tyler Schmidt in an 85-70 loss at No. 15 Olivet Nazarene Tuesday night. Emich scored a game-high 30 points and Schmidt, the defending CCAC Player of the Year, dropped in 23. The pair combined to shoot 17-of-35 from the floor and 15-of-17 from the line in handing SAU its first conference loss of the year.

The Bees matched the nationally-ranked Tigers for much of the first half.

A 10-0 run, fueled by five points from Ignacio Dacunda, gave St. Ambrose a 30-27 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the opening half. Guillermo Narbona and Jake Friel also contributed points during the spurt.

But Olivet Nazarene (6-1, 2-0 CCAC) responded with 11 of the next 13 points en route to grabbing a 43-35 halftime lead. The Tigers opened the second half with four quick points to build a 12-point advantage and the Bees were forced to play catch-up from there.

SAU made a charge midway through the second half. Down 62-50, Zane Witt knocked down a jumper and Friel followed with a 3-pointer. Another Bee stop led to a Dacunda layup as the lead was trimmed to 62-57. But minutes later, the Tigers answered with a six-point run to restore a 70-59 advantage. The Bees got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.

St. Ambrose (5-3, 2-1 CCAC) shot nearly 43 percent from the field but hit only 5-of-23 (.217) from beyond the arc. The Bees were also outscored 18-11 from the line and were out-rebounded 43-31.

Will Spriggs came off the bench to lead the team with 17 points. He was 7-of-11 from the floor. Dacunda and Atem Agot each scored 11. Friel finished with eight, Witt added six, and Elgin Bowen Jr. and Ryan Kenney each netted five. Narbona added four points and Nathan Moeller contributed three.

The Bees are off until they host Missouri Baptist in a non-conference battle next Wednesday.