After dropping its last three MAC conference games, men’s basketball bounced back with a 74-61 win over Central Michigan Wednesday night.

This is the first time the Huskies (4-13, 2-3 MAC) have beat the Chippewas (9-9, 2-3 MAC) in Mount Pleasant since 2006.

Things looked grim for the Huskies early as they found themselves down 21-11 with 9:23 left to play in the first half. Down 10, the Huskies closed out the half on a 13-4 run, giving them a 32-21 lead going into halftime.

“It was definitely a confidence booster for us,” said head coach Mark Montgomery. “…He [Abdel Nader] hit some rhythm threes and got us going and it kinda got contagious. And after a tough couple games, being up at halftime really gives the confidence to our guys, that, ‘Hey, we can win this game if we keep executing and playing defense.’”

The Huskies held the lead the rest of the game and pushed it as high as 13 in the second half, when they led 62-49.

They were able to earn the victory thanks to a strong offensive effort led by sophomore wing Nader with a season-high 23 points. The Huskies scored 18 points more than their season average of 56 points per game.

As a team, the Huskies had one of their stronger shooting nights of the season at 49 percent, converting on 21 of 43 shots from the field. They were also strong from behind the arc in the contest, shooting 53 percent on 10 of 19 attempts.

“I thought we were in a flow and a rhythm,” Montgomery said. “Especially in the second half, guys were sharing the ball and we were shooting step-in jumpshots and we weren’t shooting as many jumpshots off the dribble…. We had good ball and player movement and we had 12 assists, but we had guys making shots, which was nice.”

In the game the Huskies had three players score in double figures: Nader, junior wing Aksel Bolin and freshman guard Travon Baker, which is something Montgomery has been looking for.

“It’s very important because it takes the load off Abdel [Nader], our leading scorer,” said freshman guard Daveon Balls. “So once we get going, and he gets going, it opens it up for us and we have a lot more options. That’s better than just relying on one person and leaving the pressure all on him. It was big for the players to step up, that’s what coach Monty preaches all the time, players need to step up. Players stepped up tonight and we got the ‘W.’”

The Huskies’ defense played just as big of a role in the game as the offense, as they were able to hold Central Michigan under its season average of 67 points per game.

“We just rotated to the ball and didn’t let them get a lot of second chance opportunities,” Balls said. “They came up with a lot in the first half, their guards got in and got scrappy and got all over the loose balls.”