St. Ambrose was outscored 19-8 over the final five minutes to fall to Calumet 70-62 Wednesday night in Lee Lohman Arena.

The Bees, who had trailed by as many as 11 points in the opening minutes of the second half, chipped away. Down 49-45, Elgin Bowen Jr. sandwiched a 3-pointer and a layup around a pair of Grant Mason free throws as part of a 7-0 run that gave St. Ambrose its largest lead of the game at 52-49 with seven minutes left. The lead remained three two minutes later when Will Spriggs hit a jumper to put the score at 54-51.

But then the Bees hit a dry spell.

Three straight misses from the floor combined with four turnovers allowed Calumet (6-14, 4-9 CCAC) to go on an 11-0 spurt that gave the Crimson Wave a 62-54 lead. Ignacio Dacunda ended the drought with a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to 62-57 with 1:46 remaining.

SAU got the miss it needed but CCSJ was able to track down the offensive board and ultimately hit a jumper to push the lead back to seven with under a minute left. The Wave hit six free throws over the final 32 seconds to close out the win.

St. Ambrose (11-10, 8-5 CCAC) fell into a hole early thanks to a sluggish first half. The Bees shot just over 30 percent and committed 14 turnovers in falling behind 26-16. Bowen Jr. and Collin Wainscott combined for the final five points of the half to trim the deficit to 26-21 at the break. Calumet extended its lead to 35-24 early in the second half before SAU made its late push.

Spriggs led the Bees with 18 points. Bowen scored 13 and Atem Agot finished with a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Dacunda scored seven points, Jake Friel and Wainscott had five apiece, and Mason and Guillermo Narbona each scored two. Dacunda came down with 10 rebounds in the loss.

St. Ambrose will look to bounce back Saturday with a game at Judson.