The Oswego State men's basketball team defeated RIT 84-81 at Max Ziel Gymnasium in Oswego in the first round of the ECAC Upstate Tournament.

Nick Perioli led the top-seeded Lakers with 29 points and five assists and played all 40 minutes. Mat Burridge, Ahmad Mims, and Kyle Reuter also racked up double-digit scoring for Oswego. Burridge scored 17, Mims scored 16, and Reuter had 11 points for the Lakers.
 
At the end of first half the Lakers went into the locker room with a 39-35 lead over RIT.  The Tigers started strongly in the second half as Barrett Zeinfeld buried two 3-pointers early and RIT scored the first nine points of the half to take a 44-39 lead. Zeinfeld led the Tigers with 24 points in the game. Tim Bacon and Fran Snyder recorded double-doubles. Bacon had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Snyder had 11 points and 12 boards.

Trailing by two points in the closing seconds, RIT?s Colin Roy intercepted a pass by Oswego State?s Reuter, but couldn?t convert on the lay-up. Perioli grabbed the rebound and forced the Tigers to foul. Perioli made one of those two attempts and finished the game 11-for-15 from the free-throw line.

Oswego State is 21-7 overall and will host the semifinals and championship game of the tournament on Friday and Saturday. The Lakers will face fourth-seeded Potsdam at 8 p.m. Friday. The first semifinal pairs No. 6 Brockport and No. 7 Ithaca at 6 p.m.