MINERAL POINT — It was a week of losses for the Redbirds’ boys basketball team, who suffered a week-ending loss at Mineral Point on Jan. 31, 66-37.

It took over a minute for the SWAL conference rivals to add a score to the contest. Darlington (12-5, 7-3) got on the board first as Broker Buschor let a three fly over a Pointers (14-1, 9-1) defender at the top of the key.

Unfortunately, Mineral Point found its footing after starting the game one-for-four. Unlike the teams’ prior matchup where they went back and forth to the final beat, the Pointers got hot on their way to a 11-3 lead at 11:21. Darlington kept the difference to about 10 points to within the 6-minute mark, but Mineral Point surged to the final buzzer with a 31-10 lead to its name.

As with the start of the game, the Redbirds had the first score — this time a Zeke Zuberbuhler layup after rolling around Buschor for a pass. It wasn’t a precursor of things to come, however. Darlington managed to almost keep up with the hosting Pointers to the final buzzer, but the gap opened in the first half was too much to overcome.

Zuberbuhler led the Redbirds with eight points on a night where the team was 13-for-46 from the field and 7-for-10 from the charity stripe. Buschor and Michael Larson were second at seven points apiece. Darlington was also out-rebounded, 40-23, with Zuberbuhler, Buschor, and Cagyn Paisley each tallying four.