BIDWELL — The South Point Pointers ran into an ambush. Fortunately, they had enough firepower to escape.

The Pointers overcame a 7-point fourth quarter deficit to beat the upset-minded River Valley Raiders 48-43 Tuesday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

South Point won the first meeting 77-36 on Dec. 22.

“We didn’t play well, but we got out of there with a win and that’s the main thing,” said Pointers’ coach Chris Barnes.

Free throws proved to be a key in the Pointers’ win. South Point was 18-of-28 from the foul line for the game including 14-of-22 in the second half and 8-of-15 in the fourth quarter comeback.

South Point took a 9-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and the lead was 25-19 at the half.

River Valley used a 10-4 run at the start of the second half to tie the game 29-29 at the 5:26 mark.

South Point scored 4 straight points to lead 33-29 with 1:15 on the clock, but the Raiders had their own 4-0 run to leave the game deadlocked 33-33 at the end of the quarter.

A layup by Cody McAvena gave River Valley its first lead of the game with 6:29 left. The basket triggered an 8-1 spurt and the Raiders were up 41-34 with 3:33 to go.

Trailing 43-36, South Point closed the game with 11 unanswered points including a triple by Tevin Mitchell with 53 seconds left that put the Pointers on top for good at 45-43.

Ethan Prater led the Pointers with 18 points including 11-of-16 at the foul line. Blake Barnes added 14 points.

Cody Taylor had 10 points — all in the first half — before fouling out with 4:56 to play.

McAvena had 15 points and Dominque Peck 13 to lead River Valley (2-8, 1-4).

South Point 9 16 8 15 = 48

River Valley 5 14 14 10 = 43

SOUTH POINT (9-4, 5-0): Tevin Mitchell 0 1 0-2 3, Matt Button 0 0 0-0 0, Blake Barnes 5 0 4-6 14, Kyle Winkler 1 0 0-0 2, Jordan Bruton 0 0 1-2 1, Josh Powers 0 0 0-0 0, Ethan Prater 2 1 11-16 18, Cody Taylor 2 0 2-2 10, Greg Taylor 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 1 18-28 48. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: C. Taylor (4th 4:56).

RIVER VALLEY (2-8, 1-4): Trey Noble 1 0 0-0 2, Cody McAvena 3 1 6-8 15, Parker Hollingsworth 1 0 0-0 2, Aaron Harrison 1 0 0-0 2, Dominque Peck 4 1 2-5 13, Cody Smith 1 1 2-2 7, Austin Lewis 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 12 3 10-15 43. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None.