A big second half allowed St. Ambrose to run past Saint Xavier 93-80 Wednesday night in Lee Lohman Arena.

Leading just 36-34 at the half, the Bees put on a second-half clinic offensively, shooting nearly 78 percent from the floor.

The majority of that came after Saint Xavier (10-14, 8-9 CCAC) had taken a 43-42 lead.

Collin Wainscott hit a free throw to tie the game and then buried back-to-back 3-pointers to give St. Ambrose (12-13, 9-8 CCAC) a lead it would never relinquish.

That started a stretch where the Bees caught fire from beyond the arc.

Nolan Deitrich hit a 3-pointer. Then, Guillermo Narbona followed his layup with a three of his own. Deitrich, Wainscott and Kieran Farrell each then connected from 3-point range, with the final triple giving the Bees a 66-56 lead with under 12 minutes remaining. 

The Cougars rallied to get within four at 70-66 before the Bees went on another run.

Ignacio Dacunda (seven points), Narbona (five) and Solomon Garrison (two) combined for all the points during the 14-point spurt. Dacunda's 3-pointer capped the run which gave SAU an 84-66 lead with four minutes left.

The lead remained in double figures the rest of the way.

Over the final 20 minutes, the Bees shot 21-of-27 from the field (77.8 percent), including a 9-of-14 mark (64.3 percent) from distance.

Wainscott (6-of-8, 4-of-6 on threes for 19 points), Narbona (5-of-6 for 12 points) and Dacunda (4-of-4 for 11 points) all scored in double digits in the second half.

St. Ambrose shot 59 percent for the game and connected on 13-of-26 3-point tries.

Wainscott finished with a game-high 24 points. Dacunda finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. Narbona added 19 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists and four steals.

Deitrich came off the bench to contribute 10 points.

Farrell finished with nine points, Ryan Kenney had seven boards and five boards, and Garrison added two points.

The Bees will host Olivet Nazarene on Senior Day Saturday.