Fighting Bees Open Conference Season With 'W'
Box Score   1/6/05

DAVENPORT, IA- The St. Ambrose men's basketball team struggled for half the game against The Franciscan Thursday in both team's conference opener, but eventually pulled it together for a 101-71 victory.  Franciscan (3-12, 0-1) came out of the gates firing, as they made their first five three pointers, en route to a 40-38 halftime lead.  SAU (9-8, 1-0) got some momentum going into the half, as Chris Washington hit a three pointer at the buzzer to cut the lead to two points.  The Bees then came out fighting in the second half, outscoring the Saints by 32 points.

St. Ambrose was led by Senior Ryan Johnson, who finished with 28 points and five rebounds, while making three of his four three point attempts.  Washington had a nice overall game, scoring 21, including three 3 pointers, while also grabbing six boards and dishing out five assists.  He also finished with four steals.  Nick Ferreira helped out with eleven points, despite being in foul trouble for much of the game.

The Franciscan just would not go away in the first half, in part because of the play of Travis Eversmeyer, who scored 26 points, while shooting nine for twelve from the field, including five for six from three point range.  Aaron Thais and Trevon Lewis also scored in double figures with ten points a piece.  Franciscan shot 52% from three point range for the game, but it was not enough to get a victory.

SAU won't have much time to rest before they're back out on the court.  They travel to La Cross, WI on Saturday to take on a tough Viterbo team.

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