Elgin Bowen Jr. led four Bees in double figures as St. Ambrose climbed back to .500 with an 81-73 home win over Governors State Saturday afternoon at Lee Lohman Arena.

Bowen finished 5-of-8 from 3-point range to score a game-high 17 points. Will Spriggs and Ignacio Dacunda each came off the bench to contribute 14 and 13 points, respectively. Jake Friel netted 10.

Along with the balanced scoring, SAU relied on its defense. Governors State (5-9, 3-3 CCAC) shot just 35 percent from the floor, making 25-of-71 from the floor. That included just a 4-of-14 effort from beyond the arc for the Jaguars.

The defense helped St. Ambrose (7-7, 4-2 CCAC) overcome a sluggish start. GSU jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Ryan Kenney finally got SAU on the board nearly three minutes into the game. The Bees recovered to grab a 34-31 lead into the halftime break.

Two Bowen triples helped St. Ambrose open a double-digit lead at 42-32 just 1:45 into the second half. The Jaguars responded with five straight points before back-to-back threes from Kenney and Spriggs restored an 11-point lead.

GSU got as close as 58-55 with just over nine minutes remaining. But Kenney knocked down a jumper and Friel buried a 3-pointer to give SAU some breathing room. Following a Jaguar basket, Guillermo Narbona scored on back-to-back possessions to open up a 67-57 lead with six minutes left.

Governors State got as close as five a handful of times, the last coming at 78-73 inside the final minute. But free throws from Narbona and Collin Wainscott sealed the win.

Kenney narrowly missed becoming the fifth Bee to score in double figures as he finished with nine points. Narbona and Wainscott each scored five, Nathan Moeller had four, and Max Steiner and Ty Slager scored two points apiece.

Narbona led the team with 12 rebounds and six assists.

The Bees will next visit Roosevelt Wednesday.