Bees unable to hold onto early lead against CCAC-leading Roosevelt
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (IA) (7-8, 4-3 CCAC) | 39 | 32 | 71 |
|
#20 Roosevelt (IL) (13-2, 7-0 CCAC) | 41 | 43 | 84 |
St. Ambrose put an early scare into conference-leading and No. 20-ranked Roosevelt before the Lakers pulled away for an 84-71 win in Chicago Wednesday night.
Elgin Bowen Jr. and Ryan Kenney started the game with back-to-back 3-pointers as the Bees raced to an early 6-0 lead. It was all SAU in the opening minutes as an Ignacio Dacunda three pushed the advantage to 13-2 just three minutes in. A Will Spriggs jumper gave St. Ambrose what proved to be its largest lead of the game at 26-12 midway through the first half.
But then Roosevelt (13-2, 7-0 CCAC), the remaining lone unbeaten in CCAC play, bounced back. The Lakers outscored the Bees 29-13 over the final 10 minutes of the half to grab a 41-39 halftime lead.
RU carried that momentum into the second half, shooting nearly 55 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes.
SAU stayed close, battling back from a double-digit deficit to get within 71-65 on a Guillermo Narbona layup with 5:35 to play. Following a timeout, the Lakers responded with six quick points to restore a 12-point lead and they held off the Bees from there.
St. Ambrose (7-8, 4-3 CCAC) shot nearly 47 percent from the floor and hit 7-of-15 from beyond the arc. Roosevelt scored 19 points off 11 SAU turnovers while the Bees managed just two points off the six Laker turnovers.
Dacunda led St. Ambrose with 13 points. Spriggs scored 12 and Bowen finished with 10.
Narbona and Kenney each scored eight. Grant Mason and Max Steiner scored five apiece. Jake Friel and Atem Agot each netted four. Nathan Moeller added two.
Narbona grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in the loss.
SAU will host Indiana South Bend Saturday.