RIVER FALLS, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) - The Falcons turned a halftime deficit into a 14-point lead in the second half before holding on for a 66-62 win in Eau Claire on Wednesday night. Julian Jackson led UW-River Falls with 27 points on 13-21 shooting, and he also grabbed five rebounds. Austin Heidecker recorded his 12th double-double of the year with 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Noah Hanson grabbed a career-high seven rebounds off the bench to help lead the Falcons to their fourth WIAC win of the season. It was also their third conference win in the last five games.

UWRF struggled shooting the ball in the first half, managing only 32 percent from the field and attempting only four free throws. They managed to never trail by more than three points in the first half and went up 23-22 after a 3-pointer from Heidecker with just over four minutes remaining in the half. Cole Rabedeaux was the only player to score for the Blugolds over the final seven minutes of the first half, but he hit four shots to put UW-Eau Claire up one at the break. Jackson and Heidecker combined to account for 20 of the team's 25 points in the first half.

Rabedeaux made another shot three minutes into the second half to put the Blugolds up 34-30, which would end up being their biggest lead of the game. Matt Keller responded by hitting a 3-pointer on the following possession, but Ben Widdes made back-to-back shots to go up 38-35. UWRF put their foot on the pedal and put together a 17-4 run to take control of the game. Jackson made four shots and Hanson knocked down a 3-pointer to go up by 10, and Jackson continued his hot second-half shooting by making two more to go up by 14 points with 5:40 remaining.

However, Eau Claire made their following six shots to get within five points with over 30 seconds remaining. Rabedeaux scored his 18th point of the night on a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two with only 13 seconds remaining, and Keller only made one of his free throws, which gave the Blugolds an opportunity to tie the game. Rabedeaux missed the game-tying shot and Hanson made one of his two free throws to clinch the four-point victory. UWRF shot over 55 percent in the second half and out-rebounded the Blugolds 42-25 overall.

The Falcons are now 4-9 in the WIAC and close out their regular season with a game on the road against UW-Whitewater on Saturday. If the Falcons can defeat the Warhawks, they should be able to clinch the final spot in the WIAC tournament due to tiebreaker rules.