The magical season for the Wright State men's basketball team came to an end Thursday night as the #3 seed Pittsburgh Panthers broke away in the late stages of the first half and went on to a 79-58 decision over the #14 seed Raiders in the first round of the NCAA West Regional at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York.

Pittsburgh scored the first 13 points of the contest before Todd Brown broke through for WSU with a reverse layup at the 16:32 mark. The Raiders, though, gradually chipped away and used a 12-1 burst, including five from Scottie Wilson, to tie the game at 22 on a three from the right elbow by DaShaun Wood with 8:34 remaining in the half.

A short jumper in the lane from Aaron Gray with 5:13 left, however, put the Panthers back in front and that basket started an 18-5 run, seven of those coming from Sam Young and six by Ronald Ramon, to give Pitt a 43-30 halftime lead.

Pittsburgh shot 55 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes, including seven of 12 from three-point range, compared 35 percent overall for the Raiders, who were two of 10 from behind the arc.

The Panthers maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way as they hit for 54 percent in the second half to finish the night at 55 percent overall, including 10 of 21 on three-pointers, while Wright State shot 31 percent in the second half and 33 percent altogether.

Four WSU players scored in double figures, led by Wood, who tallied 13 in his final game as a Raider and added seven assists and six rebounds. Vaughn Duggins chipped in 12, Wilson 11 and Brown 10.

Ramon paced Pittsburgh (28-7) with 14 points, while Young had 13, Mike Cook 12, Gray 11 and Levon Kendall 10.

Wright State, who had a pair of firsts during the 2006-07 season as the Raiders claimed their first Horizon League regular-season co-championship and won their first Horizon League Tournament title, finishes with a mark of 23-10, including two wins over nationally-ranked Butler and 11 victories over its final 13 games.