CANTON, Mo. - Mason Vires hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer Wednesday  night to give Culver-Stockton a 94-92 victory over Mount Mercy in a Heart of America Conference game in Missouri.

The heartbreaking defeat left the Mustangs 2 1/2 games out of a  playoff spot for the conference tournament with just three games remaining, probably killing their chances of making the postseason  event.

Culver-Stockton is in last place in the Heart of America Conference,  but they protected their home court on the last-second heroics by Vires.

Mount Mercy rallied from a 11-point deficit in the second half and took a 92-91 lead with four seconds remaining on two free throws by Davion Watson, but the slim advantage quickly evaporated.

The Mustangs fell to 13-14 overall and 8-13 in the conference. Culver-Stockton raised its marks to 5-21 overall and 4-18 in the league.

RoyShawn Webb led Mount Mercy with 20 points and nine rebounds. Watson finished with 19 points. Streeter McIlravy scored 12 for the Mustangs,  Dennis McKinney 11 and Davarea Loggins 10.

Vires scored 24 points for Culver-Stockton and Michael Johnson had 23.

MOUNT MERCY (92): RoyShawn Webb 9-14 2-4 20, Davion Watson 4-7 11-12  19, Streeter McIlravy 4-6 0-0 12, Dennis McKinney 5-16 0-1 11, Bailey  Basala 3-8 3-4 9, Davarea Loggins 3-5 3-4 10, Tyler Kelley 2-7 1-1 5,  DJ Johnson 0-3 4-5 4, Christian Reischauer 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 31-68  24-31 92.

CULVER-STOCKTON (94): Mason Vires 8-16 5-6 24, Michael Johnson 7-11  8-9 23, Jim King 5-10 7-10 18, Ray Adams 5-14 0-0 14, Thaddeus Newby  3-12 3-4 10, Mekai Ray 1-1 0-0 3, Easton Null 1-4 0-0 2, Jerrid Cosby  0-0 0-0 0, Jakob Happel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-68 23-29 94.

Halftime - Culver-Stockton 48, Mount Mercy 43. 3-point goals - Mount  Mercy 6-23 (Watson 0-3, McIlravy 4-6, McKinney 1-4, Basala 0-4,  Loggins 1-3, Johnson 0-2, Reischauer 0-1), Culver-Stockton 11-28  (Vires 3-3, Johnson 1-2, King 1-2, Adams 4-13, Newby 1-6, Ray 1-1,  Null 0-1).