CCAC

[Men's Basketball] Bees unable to catch Saints in battle of CCAC leaders

St. Ambrose spotted Holy Cross (Ind.) a 6-0 lead and SAU could never get over the hump in an 84-69 road loss Saturday afternoon.The Bees missed their first five shots from the floor in digging a hole they ultimately could never climb out of in a battle of two of the top teams in the conference.The Saints (10-4, 5-2 CCAC), a team receiving votes in the NAIA top-25 poll, led 50-41 at the half and quickly built a 13-point lead early in the second half.The Bees made several runs and closed to within six points twice. The first after back-to-back 3-pointers from John Kerr reduced the deficit to 67-61 with more than five minutes remaining. And the second time coming after a Michael Williams three made the score 75-69 with two minutes left.But just like they started the game, the Bees finished with a thud, misfiring on their final five attempts from the floor as the Saints closed the game by hitting 9-of-10 free throws over the final 90 seconds.St. Ambrose (11-4, 6-2 CCAC) struggled to slow a Holy Cross team that shot better than 52 percent from the floor and connected on 14-of-21 attempts from beyond the arc.SAU shot well, finishing at nearly 43 percent for the game and better than 44 percent from 3-point range, but the Bees were outscored by the Saints 20-9 from the line.Kerr led St. Ambrose with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists. He also blocked a shot and came up with a steal.Williams dropped in 20 points and pulled down seven boards. Kerr and Williams each hit four 3-pointers in the loss.Ben Schols scored nine points while Kyle Rohr and Will Spriggs each came off the bench to add five points.The road doesn't get any easier for the Bees as they will host conference-leading Olivet Nazarene (7-3, 6-1 CCAC) Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.