With nine seconds left and the NIU men’s basketball team down by three, Anthony Maestranzi found the ball in his hands.

Just 10 seconds earlier Maestranzi hit a three pointer to pull the Huskies within four points of Toledo, but one more wasn’t in the cards for the senior point guard.

Maestranzi’s shot rattled out and was tipped in by junior guard Mike McKinney to pull NIU to a one-point difference, but no time remained on the clock or on the Huskies’ season.

The Huskies fell to Toledo 78-77 in the MAC quarterfinals today in Cleveland, ending the Huskies’ hopes of a MAC tournament title and the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament that comes with the title.

“Anthony had a real good look, but it came up just short,” NIU coach Rob Judson said. “He had just made [a three pointer] and he is our best three-point shooter off the dribble, but he couldn’t [do] it.”

NIU (17-11) was slow out of the gate and found itself in a 16-point hole after the first half.

Things didn’t improve early in the second half for NIU as Toledo (19-10) extended its lead to 48-27.

But with its season and NCAA tournament hopes on the line, NIU staged a furious second-half comeback.

NIU senior forward Todd Peterson scored a game-high 21 points, 13 of which came in the second half that saw the Huskies score 54 points to Toledo’s 39.

Peterson hit two free throws to bring the score to 70-67 with more than one minute remaining.

Toledo guard Justin Ingram answered, however, scoring five points in the final 25 seconds to seal the Huskies’ fate.

“We had a fantastic effort in the second half and we fought hard just to come back,” Judson said. “Toledo put on a lot of pressure in the first half, but we were able to cut down our turnovers in the second, which has been a key factor for us all year.”

Junior center James Hughes was back in the lineup for the Huskies after missing the two previous games with concussive symptoms.

Hughes was not in the starting lineup, but chipped in seven points and four rebounds in 14 minutes of action.

McKinney had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies. Maestranzi had eight points on 3-of-11 shooting including 2 of 8 from beyond the arch.

Sammy Villegas and Florentino Valencia led the Rockets with 18 points each. Valencia went 4 of 5 from three-point range.

The Huskies have not won a MAC tournament game since their 2003 victories over Buffalo and Western Michigan.

The Rockets will advance to the semifinals for a matchup with No. 3 seed Akron. The winner of that game will advance to the MAC championship.