Bennett's question: "How tough are you?"

The Pointers answered their coach in the second half as they clawed their way back from as many as 11 points down to knock off the Falcons 64-60 at Quandt Fieldhouse.

The victory helped the Pointers retain a piece of first place in the WIAC with a 7-1 conference mark. UW-SP, 12-3 overall, is tied with UW-Eau Claire for the top spot in the league.

"I was very dismayed about what I thought was a softness we showed in the first half," Bennett said. "We were fortunate to only be seven down at halftime.

"At halftime, we questioned their commitment to going out there and doing the things they needed to do to get the job done.

"I told them they needed to rely on their toughness to win this game. I asked for more intensity and a tougher attitude in the second half and they did it."

Senior forwards Brant Bailey and Gabe Frank led the Pointer comeback. Bailey, who finished with a game-high 28 points, had 21 in the second half, while Frank scored 11 of his 18 points after the intermission.

Bailey did most of his damage in the second half from the free throw line, where he was 11-for-16. He finished the night 14-of-19 from the charity stripe and also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.

"I think our seniors showed great leadership," Bennett said. "Brant had a great second half and Gabe picked up right where he left off against Stout on Wednesday."

The Pointers shot 22 more free throws than the Falcons. UW-SP was 22-of-28 from the line, while the Falcons were just 5-of-6.

While the second half belonged to Bailey and Frank, the first half was owned by the Falcons' Shawn Timm, who scored 14 points, including four 3-pointers, in the period as River Falls built a 32-25 advantage.

Timm finished the game with 23 points, with all of his field goals coming from behind the 3-point arc. He was 7-for-14 in the contest, with most of his shots coming from beyond NBA 3-point range.

"Some of those shots you couldn't defend," Bennett said. "We knew he is a good long-range shooter and we got a hand in his face a number of times.  "He hit a lot of them early. I thought he started pulling up short in the second half, but he definitely had the greatest range of any player we have seen in the conference."

Sulieman Holman was also in double figures for the Falcons (4-4 WIAC, 10-6 overall) with 18 points.

The Pointers were a cool 31 percent (6-of-19) in the first half and turned the ball over 10 times.

River Falls held a 10-point bulge - 49-39 - with just under 11 minutes remaining in the second half. That's when the Pointers made their move.  A pair of jumpers by Bailey and back-to-back 3-pointers by Frank tied the game at 49-49 with 7:48 left.

Bailey then gave UW-SP its first lead, 51-49, with a hoop at the 6:56 mark.

A jumper by Holman and a 3-pointer by Timm gave the Falcons their final lead of the contest, 54-51 with 5:34 to go.

A tip-in by senior Ben Benesh started a string of seven straight points that moved the Pointers ahead 58-54 with 3:06 remaining.

A jumper by Holman tied it at 60-60 with 52 seconds remaining, but Bailey iced the victory by hitting four straight free throws.

"This was a tough one, but you are going to have games like this," Bennett said. "Good teams find a way to win tight, hard-fought games. Tonight we found it in ourselves to do just that."

The Pointers travel to UW-Whitewater on Wednesday and return home Saturday to face Eau Claire in a potential first-place showdown.