CANYON, Texas - There aren't many NCAA Division II teams better than No. 5 Midwestern State.

And West Texas A&M found that out Wednesday night at First United Bank Center as it needed ever ball to bounce its way as the Buffs were credited with a 60-56 win over the Mustangs.

It's just the third loss of the season for MSU who fell to 22-3 on the season and to 14-3 in Lone Star Conference play.

The Mustangs can clinch the top seed in next week's LSC Postseason Tournament and a share of the LSC title with a win over Eastern New Mexico Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. or 25 minutes following the conclusion of the women's game which begins at 6.

The Mustangs overcame a sluggish start as WT held them to four points over the opening 13 minutes of the contest as the Buffs built a 16-4 lead.

But MSU connected on a flurry of 3-pointers including a pair by senior guard Keonte' Logan and JaMichael Rivers and another by Michael Loyd as the Mustangs pulled to within 29-23 at the intermission.

The Mustangs battled back to take the lead on an 8-1 run and lead 45-41 when Michael Loyd nailed his third 3-pointer of the game with 8:33 to play.

The Buffs answered by scoring 10-straight points on the strength of seven makes in eight trips to the charity stripe over a stretch of 1:09.

West Texas A&M finished the game with 31 free-throw attempts to 10 for MSU as the Mustangs committed 24 fouls to the Buffs' 13.

Still, the Mustangs worked their way back to within 58-56 when David Terrell converted a three-point play off of a fast-break feed from Loyd with 1:55 to go.

That's when the situations ended up being too much for MSU as the Mustangs made a stop to earn the opportunity to tie the game, but three calls impacted the final 100 seconds of the game.

First, a moving pick in a congested lane on Logan forced MSU into a turnover with 1:41 to go. The edge remained at two until Loyd was whistled on a touch foul on an inbounds play to place WT's Lionel Foster at the line with 38.5 second left.

Foster, who finished with 15 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe, made one of two to push the advantage to three.

After an MSU timeout, the Mustangs were hit with a quick 5-second call on an inbounds play to give the Buffs the ball once again with 28.2 seconds to play.

Foster then hit 1-of-2 on his next trip to the line to seal the game for the Buffs.

Loyd finished with a game-high 18 points, while Terrell went 6-for-6 from the field to close with 13 points and four rebounds.

Kennon Washington came off of the bench for 14 points and seven rebounds for West Texas A&M.

The Buffs clinched the No. 3 seed in the LSC tournament while moving to 18-6 on the season and to 12-5 in league play.