The Wright State men's basketball team saw a 17-point second half lead slip away, but bounced back in overtime for an 84-82 Horizon League decision at Milwaukee Saturday in the league opener for both teams.

The Panthers scored the first five points of the contest and were still up 15-13 before the Raiders went in front at the 11:44 mark on a Joe Thomasson three.  A 10-2 run pushed the WSU advantage to 33-22 and the margin was as much as 16 before Wright State went into halftime up 41-28.

The Raiders shot 55 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including six of 12 from three-point range, while UWM shot 35 percent, but was just four of 14 from behind the arc.

WSU looked to be in control, ahead 66-49 with 9:47 to play, only to see Milwaukee storm back to within one with a 16-0 run over a 4:11 span.  A Matt Tiby layup later gave the Panthers a one-point lead before Wright State regained the advantage at 74-71 thanks to two foul shots and a layup by Thomassson.

A JayQuan McCloud three tied the game and both teams had chances to win it in the final minute, but both hit one of two foul shots and the game went into overtime.

Mark Alstork gave the Raiders a four-point edge to start the extra period with two free throws and a layup and a later Biggie Minnis bucket made it 82-77, but again UWM would rally to tie the score.

An Alstork layup with 1:16 to play turned out to be the winning points as Wright State survived two three-point misses by the Panthers in the final minute.

The win was just the second for WSU in Milwaukee in the last 18 tries, with the other victory being a 64-49 decision on February 9, 2013, at the Klotsche Center on the UWM campus.  The last win for Wright State at Panther Arena was a 75-65 decision on February 21, 1998.

The Raiders shot 52 percent for the game and hit nine of 20 three-pointers compared to 43 percent shooting for the Panthers, who were nine of 26 from three. 

Five Wright State players scored in double figures, led by Thomasson with 21 while Alstork had 17, Michael Karena and Mark Hughes 11 each and 10 by Minnis off the bench.  JT Yoho nearly had a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

Tiby paced Milwaukee (9-5, 0-1 Horizon) with 23 points while Akeem Springs had 19, Austin Arians and McCloud 12 each and Jordan Johnson 11.

Wright State (7-7, 1-0 Horizon), now winners of four straight, wraps up the Wisconsin trip on Monday, January 4, with an 8:00 Eastern contest at Green Bay.