meaning of "barely had the presence of mind"

[KLPNO]

Hi everyone
I'd like to ask some things about the following sentence.

Momoa moved to slap Vega on the back for the fourteenth time tonight, but Vega barely had the presence of mind to shift his position, so that Momoa missed. Momoa, who was on at least his sixth vodka, didn't seem to notice or care.

Does the sentence imply that Momoa missed, i.e. Vega managed to dodge? I'm a little confused with the author's using the conjunction "but" (the conjunction "and" would sound more natural to me) and with the using of "so that".

[Yankee]

Hi KLPNO

The use of 'but' does seem a bit odd in the sentence in combination with 'barely'. The author apparently means that Vega 'still had just enough presence of mind (left) to be able to dodge the slap on the back'.
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_________________
Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[KLPNO]