STEVENES POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point football team (1-7, 0-5) held its own for more than a half in a 42-14 loss to No. 8 UW-Platteville (7-1, 4-1) on Saturday.
 
Miles Gallagher (Racine, Wis./William Horlick) accounted for 140 yards of total offense to lead the Pointers. He had four rushes for 58 yards and a touchdown. He also had two monster catches for 82 yards.
 
Quarterback Jacob Leair (Cedarburg, Wis./Cedarburg) completed 17 passes for 227 yards. He connected with Austin Phillips (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) and Andru Miller (Plymouth, Wis./Plumouth) five times each.
 
Defensively, Zander Popp (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) had 12 tackles. Gavino Lopez (Dorchester, Wis./Colby) had 11 and Jack Luedtke (Plymouth, Wis./Plymouth) added nine. Sawyer Stuczynski (Amherst, Wis./Amherst) had eight tackles, two of which were sacks.
 
The Pioneers got in the end zone late in the first quarter as UWSP trailed just 7-0 after one. UWP made it 21-0 with touchdowns on their next two possessions.
 
The Pointers used a little trickery to start the next drive. Phillips passed the ball to Leair, who ran for 29 yards to get UWSP in enemy territory. Four plays later, Leair hit Gallagher for 39 yards on fourth down setting up UWSP at the one-yard line. Two plays later, Leair found Miller in the endzone as UWSP cut the deficit to 21-7 at the half.
 
On UWSP's first drive of the second half, Brycen Cashin (Plover, Wis./Pacelli) ran for 16 yards on the opening play. Leair connected with Ben Wollersheim (Manitowoc, Wis./Lincoln) for 11 yards and another first down. Later in the drive, Leair and Gallagher connected for a 36-yard touchdown as the Pointers got within 21-14.
 
Late in the third, a punt return set up UWP deep In UWSP territory. The Pioneers cashed in to push the deficit to 28-14.
 
Touchdowns on the next two possessions sealed the win for the Pioneers.

The Pointers will travel to UW-River Falls on Saturday (Nov. 9). Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.