FORT SMITH, Ark. -- Jermane Carter's putback with 12 seconds to play gave Midwestern State its second lead of the second half, then Luke Hamilton's blocked shot in the closing moments sealed a 63-62 win over Arkansas-Fort Smith Friday night at Stubblefield Center.

"We had to have this win tonight. There is no way around that," MSU coach Justin Leslie said. "We have had adversity with injuries to two significant guys and that has changed the leadership and makeup of this team."

The Mustangs (4-5) scrapped their way to their second win in the last three games by clawing their way back from a 10-point deficit and overcoming a surge from UAFS' Matthew Wilson, the LSC's leading scorer.

Junior Terrell Wilson's baseline drive was blocked at the rim, but Carter grabbed the ball out of the air and flipped it in the basket to give the Mustangs a one-point edge.

Moments later, Hamilton met Wilson in the paint and swatted away his potential game winning shot.

"It really was a heckuva finish. It wasn't a lot of fun until the horn went off," Leslie said. "They were forced into a pretty tough shot. Luke's man had cheated out but wasn't a threat to shoot, so look acted as a secondary defender."

The Mustangs found a way to win despite suffering through another horrid shooting night going 5-for-24 from the 3-point arc hitting 2-of-11 in the second half. But those shots came at big moments.

Jamey Sanders hit a step-back 3 from the left wing to culminate a 12-2 MSU run to pull the Mustangs at 46-46 with 8:14 to play.

Hamilton's triple from the left-angle bend with just over 90 seconds to play preceded Wilson's floater on a baseline drive which gave the Mustangs their first lead of the second half at 61-60 with 42 seconds remaining.

"I had to go pretty deep in the jar," Leslie said. "The three plays we scored on late were things we haven't done since I have been at MSU. There wasn't enough time to explain to them what I am thinking. They just needed to go."

UAFS' Matthew Wilson created havoc by scoring 11 of his game-high 19 points in the final seven minutes to keep the Lions in front. The trend couldn't continue for Midwestern State.

"I let them have it in the (final media) timeout," Leslie said. "They were missing the standard defensively, so we went down the laundry list. What was different was the five guys huddled up (after the timeout) and were committed to making stops. They took it to Fort Smith and that put them on their heels."

Carter paced MSU with 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting while going 7-of-9 from the charity. The senior forward continued to be a menace on the offensive glass where he grabbed five of his six rebounds.

Terrell Wilson chipped in 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting while matching Carter with a team-high six rebounds.

Midwestern State recovered from a poor shooting opening half (34.6 percent) by hitting 14-of-27 shots in the second half going 51.9 percent from the field.

The Mustangs battle unbeaten UT Tyler (5-0) Monday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.