WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State scrambled back from nine points down with 81 seconds to play just have a look at a potential tying 3-point attempt in the closing seconds against St. Mary's Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

But Jermane Carter's attempt from the right corner was off the mark allowing the Rattlers to escape with a 59-55 Lone Star Conference win.

The Mustangs produced another solid defensive effort holding their third consecutive opponent to a season-low scoring output as St. Mary's managed to shoot 38 percent from the floor and connected on just 6-of-27 3-point attempts (22.2 percent).

But Midwestern State also struggled from the floor hitting 36.2 percent as a team which was fueled two significant scoring droughts.

MSU junior Terrell Wilson staked the Mustangs to a 17-12 lead with a runner in the paint with 8:52 to play to play in the first half, but the managed just one basket over the next seven minutes.

St. Mary's took advantage of the lull to produce a 15-2 run extending the lead to 27-19 when Kobe Magee buried a 3-pointer with 1:38 remaining in the first half.

Midwestern State managed just one field goal in the opening five minutes of the second half -- a three-point play by Jamey Sanders -- allowing the Rattlers to use an 11-3 run culminating in Josh Brewer's layup with 15:06 to play to post the Rattlers to their biggest lead of the game at 40-24.

MSU chipped away to pull within six points on two occasions in the final five minutes before Tyler Caron buried a 3-pointer at the top of the key to give St. Mary's a 57-48 edge with 1:40 to play.

Midwestern State rattled off the next seven points with Jalin Brown converting a layup followed by five consecutive points from Pierre Sanders including his third triple of the night followed by a pair of free throws to pull the Mustangs within 57-55 with 21 seconds to play.

St. Mary's senior forward Mamady Djikine made just one of two free throws with nine seconds remaining to give the Mustangs a clean look from the corner.

But after Carter's miss, Djikine connected on one more free throw to put the game away.

Pierre Sanders paced Midwestern State with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting with three 3-pointers, while Jamey Sanders and Terrell Wilson chipped in 12 points each.

Djikine also scored 15 points to pace the Rattlers, while Magee and Ryan Leonard had 12 points each as St. Mary's improved to 4-7 on the season and 1-1 in Lone Star Conference play.

Midwestern State (5-10, 1-3 LSC) hits the road to take on Angelo State Thursday night at Junell Center in San Angelo. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.