CCAC

[Men's Basketball] St. Ambrose gets Senior Night win over Roosevelt

John Kerr scored 28 points and Michael Williams (16) and Ben Schols (15) combined for 31 more as St. Ambrose picked up an 86-76 Senior Night win over Roosevelt Wednesday.Prior to the game, St. Ambrose recognized its eight seniors – Warren Allen, Dylan Kaczmarek, Tom Kazanecki, Kerr, Nolan Kennedy, Kyle Rohr, Zach Sullivan and Williams – before the final regular-season home game of the season.And using an all-senior starting lineup, the Bees got a 3-pointer from Rohr, a layup from Williams and a jumper from Allen to jump to a fast 7-2 lead. Kaczmarek, Schols and Kerr later combined for four consecutive threes for a 12-0 run that opened up a 24-9 lead. Roosevelt (2-4, 2-4 CCAC) fought back to get within 40-32 at the half.But anything the Lakers did in the second half, the Bees had the answer.Holding a 57-46 lead, St. Ambrose turned to its top-two scoring seniors.Williams, who was recognized before the game for scoring his 1,000th career point earlier this year, scored inside, and then it was Kerr's turn. The senior forward was honored pre-game for passing 1,500 career points this season and added to that mark Wednesday. Kerr scored the next 13 SAU points, highlighted by a dunk off a no-look pass from Jake Conerty that extended the lead to 68-48 with under nine minutes to go. Kerr punctuated his personal run with two free throws that pushed the advantage to 72-51.Roosevelt made a final charge to within 11 points with five minutes on the clock, but Kerr and Williams each contributed three of the next six points to restore an 80-63 lead and the Bees weren't challenged again.Kerr finished 10-of-13 from the floor, was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and hit 6-of-7 from the line for his 28 points. He also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.Williams scored 16 to go along with seven boards, two assists and two steals. Schols was a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range and finished 5-of-6 overall in scoring 15 points.Patrick Torrey chipped in with seven points, Kaczmarek scored six and handed out three assists, and Allen registered five points and six rebounds.St. Ambrose, now 13-5 overall and 8-3 in the CCAC, will close the regular season Saturday at Governors State. The CCAC Tournament is scheduled to begin next Tuesday.