The long trip to Superior was not a kind one for the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's basketball team Wednesday.

The Pointers, who saw the game with Superior and Saturday's home tilt with UW-La Crosse as opportunities to get back into the running to host a first-round game in the initial Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament next month, instead fell for the sixth time in the last eight games with a 62-58 defeat at the hands of the Yellowjackets.

The loss leaves the pointers at 4-7 in the WIAC and 10-9 overall. Superior, which claimed its fourth straight victory, is 3-8 in league play and 8-10 overall.

"For the first time I have no answers," says a disappointed UW-SP coach Jack Bennett. "I'm not sure where we are right now. I think right now this is a very soft team and a team that is looking for someone else to make a play. It basically starts at the point guard and it seeps into the rest of the positions."

"At this point, everything is up to examination. We start games soft. We turn the ball over. Then we play hard and we get back into it, but we don't seem to have the people to maintain the kind of standard of play that has made us a good basketball team."

The loss ended an eight-game winning streak over Superior for the Pointers. It was only the Jackets' second win over UW-SP in their last 21 meetings.

The Yellowjackets' Jason Strilzuk claimed game scoring honors with 16 points. Tony Sanders was also in double figures with 11. UW-SP was led by Jay Bennett and Brant Bailey with 14 points each.

The contest was nip-and-tuck from the opening tip-off to the final horn. The biggest lead of the game was just six points when the Pointers held an 18-12 advantage midway through the first half. Superior twice opened up five-point leads at 27-22 with two minutes remaining in the opening half and at 60-55 with 18 seconds remaining in the contest.

As often the case with close ball games, free throws played a major role in the closing minutes. After the Pointers tied the game 49-49 on a jumper by Kalonji Kadima, Superior scored the rest of its points from the charity stripe, hitting 13 of 16 foul shots down the stretch.

UW-SP twice pulled to within one point in the final three minutes, the last time coming with 45 seconds remaining at 56-55. But Strilzuk, Andre Henley and Brett Gunderson all connected on two free throws in the Yellowjackets' final three possessions to put the game away.

For the game, Superior connected on 23 of 28 free throws. The Jackets were 15 of 20 from the foul line in the second half, which more than made up for their 11 of 33 shooting after halftime. For the game, the Yellowjackets were just 23 of 67 (34 percent) from the floor.

A 3-pointer by Jay Bennett with 10:01 to go in the first half put the Pointers up 18-12. But the Jackets used a 17-9 over the final 10 minutes of the half to take a 29-27 advantage.

"I think we are a tired basketball team," Bennett said. "Ever since we came back from the Christmas break.....we have been a tired team with the exception of a couple spurts with Whitewater and River Falls and for some moments in each game.

"Some of it is physical and some of it is mental. It's tough when you are losing games, tough, close games. But we have to dig deep and come up with people who have that kind of effort. That would be part of the solution."

Bennett, who has tried to shake things up with some lineup changes the past couple of weeks, promised that more changes are coming."

"We're trying personnel things, trying to look at differ4ent combinations," the UW-SP coach said. "I feel bad for the kids, but at the same time, I'm a little upset at what I think is kind of lack of intensity that should be there. We're going to see who can step on the floor and I'm looking at some fairly major changes."

Saturday is alumni day for the UW-SP men's basketball program. The annual alumni game will begin at 5 p.m. in Berg Gym. It will be followed by the Pointer-UW-La Crosse tilt at 7p.m. at Quandt Fieldhouse.