After losing to the same team on the road by 29 points three weeks ago, St. Ambrose showed major improvement. But after leading for most of the first half, SAU struggled to stop Missouri Baptist in the second half as the Spartans rallied for a 92-82 win at Lee Lohman Arena Wednesday night.

The Bees never trailed in the opening half. Nursing a 20-19 lead, SAU went on a 9-1 run. Will Spriggs started the spurt with a 3-pointer, Ignacio Dacunda had four points and Atem Agot knocked down a jumper that gave the Bees a 29-20 lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half. The lead remained at nine when Ryan Kenney buried a jumper to push the advantage to 39-30 with 3:26 left.

But in a sign of things to come, Missouri Baptist (8-2) responded with nine straight points before Spriggs scored inside to give St. Ambrose a 41-39 halftime lead.

The Bees limited the Spartans to 43-percent shooting in the first half but MBU could not be stopped in the second half. The Spartans connected on 20 of their final 30 attempts, a 66.7-percent clip. And the Bees, who shot nearly 52 percent over the game's first 20 minutes, shot just 35 percent (12-of-34) in the second half.

MBU took its first lead of the game on a 3-pointer 90 seconds into the second half. The Spartans would never trail again. 

An Agot free throw tied the game at 51-51 with 16 minutes remaining before the Spartans scored the next six points. They held the lead the rest of the way.

Spriggs came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points. Dacunda scored 19, Agot threw in 16 and Kenney finished with 12 to give St. Ambrose four players in double figures. Agot grabbed 12 rebounds for a double-double while Dacunda was credited with eight boards.

Jake Friel scored five points to go along with five rebounds and eight assists. Guillermo Narbona also scored five. Evan Walsh and Zane Witt each finished with two points.

St. Ambrose (5-4) will return to CCAC action Saturday with a game at Calumet.