PORTALES, N.M. -- Midwestern State dodged two missed free throws with two seconds remaining to hold off Eastern New Mexico, 68-67, in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon at Greyhound Arena.

The Mustangs closed the regular season with four wins in its last five games to post an 8-20 record and emerged out of a four-way tie for 12th place to claim the final spot in the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament.

MSU travels to the Rip Griffin Center to take on Lubbock Christian Tuesday night at 7 p.m. With a win, the Mustangs move on to face Angelo State in the quarterfinal round Friday night at Comerica Center in Frisco.

"Winning four of our last five shows that we aren't ever going to quit. We're going to instill an attitude of competing and doing the best we can," MSU coach Justin Leslie said.

Midwestern State trailed by as many as nine points in the first half, while battling through a sluggish start.

"I told (the team) this isn't how it was going to end. I challenged them and they responded to the challenge," Leslie said. "As a result, we can end this season on a road win or move on to the tournament. Whenever it does end, I think we can send these seniors off with a better experience than they previously could have had. This will be a fun bus ride home."

The Mustangs seized the lead in the second half and pushed it to a game-high seven points following a Trae Jones 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from D'Monta Harris for a 68-61 advantage with 1:31 to play.

"We came out and played for the seniors. We've played these kinds of games all year. Today, it was energy and being together that helped us pull out the win," Jones said. "It's huge for us. Our seniors are going out on a good note."

But with Eastern New Mexico battling for a spot in the LSC tournament, the Greyhounds didn't go away easily.

Junior guard Devin Pullum hit a long, contested 3-pointer from the right wing, then converted a traditional three-point play on a floater in the lane to pull ENMU back to within a single point at 68-67 with 47 seconds remaining.

Eastern New Mexico made a steal with the closing moments producing a chance to pull out the victory, but two missed free throws by Yosnier Cobas with two seconds left sealed the fate for the Greyhounds, who would have advanced to the postseason with a victory.

"The guy we fouled was not a good free throw shooter. We told them it was coming off (the rim)," Leslie said. "We had difficulty rebounding missed free throws this season, but I wanted to give our seniors a chance. I was so proud and happy they came out with the win."

Midwestern State finally turned the tables in one-point games after taking losses to Central Oklahoma (73-72), UT Permian Basin (80-79) and Lubbock Christian (73-72). The Mustangs also suffered setbacks in overtime to Western New Mexico and Texas A&M-Commerce this season.

Eastern New Mexico ends the season at 8-19.