Coach Andy Greer said his team played the best 32 minutes of the season before the NIU men’s basketball team lost a 16-point lead in an 81-74 overtime loss to Central Michigan on Saturday.

Unfortunately for NIU, it takes 40, or in this case, 45, minutes to win a game.

The Huskies (4-14 overall, 3-6 Mid-American Conference) led 61-45 with nine minutes remaining, but the Chippewas responded with a 23-7 run, sending the game into overtime.

Central Michigan then outscored the Huskies 12-4 in overtime to take the victory. David Webber scored 13 of his 34 points in the final 13 minutes.

“I thought we played really well for 32 minutes,” Greer said. “I thought we contested shots well. Everyone did a nice job sharing the ball.”

With the score tied at 68, the Huskies had two chances to take the victory. Junior forward Leon Rodgers was called for traveling with 27 seconds remaining in the second half, setting up the chance for the Chippewas. But Webber lost control of the ball with nine seconds left in the second half.

Matt Nelson had the chance to give the Huskies the lead, but the junior center took the ball coast-to-coast only to miss the 19-foot shot at the end of regulation.

Greer said Central Michigan (15-4, 9-1) might not be the most talented team, but they might be the best collective unit in the MAC.

The Chippewas are in first place of the MAC West division, and if the MAC Tournament were to start today, they would hold the No. 1 seed.

Webber doesn’t think this team is special.

“We haven’t proved anything yet,” Webber said. “We still have a couple of tough games coming up. We haven’t won the MAC Championship yet, we haven’t won 20 games yet. We haven’t done anything yet. We are not guaranteed anything.”

NIU continues its three-game home stand today against Akron at 8:05 p.m.

Rodgers said even though the loss to Central Michigan might be painful, the Huskies could use it as a confidence booster.

“We can use this as motivation knowing we can play with the best team in the MAC,” Rodgers said. “We showed that we can beat them, we just broke down. Right now, all of the players and coaches are hurting.”