MIDLAND, Texas --- The Western Oregon football scored a pair of touchdowns late, but fell short against 22nd-ranked University of Texas Permian Basin on Saturday evening at Astound Broadband Stadium.

The Wolves (3-6 overall, 2-4 Lone Star Conference) took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a Charlie Shulkin 39-yard field goal. The Falcons (8-1, 6-0) scored the next 28 points with a trio of touchdowns in the second quarter and another early in the second half to take a 28-3 advantage with 10:07 left in the third.

WOU cut the lead to 28-10 when Jordan McCarty hit Brenden Hodge for a 74-yard touchdown pass with 3:20 remaining and an Austin Bacher 23-yard touchdown run with 1:44 remaining made it 28-16 - but that's as close as the Wolves would get.

The Wolves held the high-powered Falcons - who rank in the top 10 in the nation in scoring and total offense - to 387 yards and forced three turnovers. Malcolm Liufau led the defense with nine tackles and a sack, Tyler Copeland had seven tackles, Isaiah Abraham had six tackles, Muggy Dawson had five tackles and an interception, Joseph Northcutt had five tackles and a sack and Xavier Owens had four tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Offensively the Wolves finished with 328 yards of offense. Hodge finished with seven catches for 139 yards and a score and Bacher had 17 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown while catching three passes for 40 yards.

The Wolves return to Monmouth for their final home game of the season and celebrate Senior Day 1:05 p.m. Saturday against Texas A&M Kingsville.