St. Ambrose recovered from a rocky first half to move to 4-0 on the year with a 78-63 win over Mount Mercy at Lee Lohman Arena Monday night.

SAU has won its first four games for the first time since the 2020-21 team also started 4-0, but it didn't come easy.

The Bees suffered through a poor-shooting opening half, making only 33.3 percent (6-of-18) of their two-point attempts and shooting 35.7 percent (5-14) from the line. They were saved by a 4-of-9 performance from beyond the arc and a defensive effort that limited the Mustangs to a 9-of-32 effort from the floor.

After trailing much of the half, a Grant Mason free throw in the final minute gave SAU a slim 29-28 lead at the break.

But after needing 20 minutes to score their first 29 points, the Bees put up 30 points in just over the first eight minutes of the second half.

SAU connected on 11 of its first 14 shots from the floor in the second half.

Guillermo Narbona powered the Bees. The sophomore scored 16 of the team's first 30 points of the half, with his final points of the spurt giving St. Ambrose a 59-42 lead. Solomon Garrison followed with a layup to extend the lead to 61-42 with just over 11 minutes remaining.

Mason and Atem Agot each scored six points and Aiden Cilladi had two during the run that opened the 19-point lead. The margin grew to as many as 21 points as the Bees maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Over the final 20 minutes, SAH shot 17-of-29 (.586) from the field and 13-of-16 (.813) from the line to pull away.

Narbona scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. He also grabbed eight of his 11 rebounds after halftime. Narbona finished 10-of-14 from the floor.

Agot chipped in with 17 points and eight rebounds and Mason scored 15.

The Bees also received strong contributions from the bench.

Collin Wainscott hit a pair of 3-pointers in scoring eight points. Garrison finished with seven and Ignacio Dacunda added five points and six boards. Cilladi totaled three points and five rebounds and Alec Platipodis added a point. Kieran Farrell pulled down five rebounds. Will Spriggs handed out a team-high three assists.

St. Ambrose will open conference play Saturday by hosting Olivet Nazarene.