The Oswego State men's basketball team overcame a slow start and defeated Hilbert College 79-74 in a semifinal game at the Harold J. Brodie Tournament, hosted by the Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday at Clark Gym in Rochester.

Senior guard Nick Perioli had 17 points, nine assists, and five steals for the Lakers in the victory. Oswego State is now 5-2 on the season, while Hilbert fell to 3-5 overall.  Oswego State will face the winner of the second semifinal between RIT and D'Youville in the championship game, which is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday.

Oswego State trailed 9-2 early on but went on a 21-6 run to take a lead, capped by a 3-pointer by Perioli with 10:42 left in the first half. The Lakers never relinquished the lead for the rest of the game, building a 12-point advantage in the first half at 32-20, before Hilbert narrowed the margin to just five points at halftime.

After the break, Oswego State stretched the lead to 14 points on a steal and layup by Perioli and held on down the stretch for the win.

Laker sophomore forward Mahamoud Jabbi had a game-high 22 points and also pulled down 11 rebounds. Tommy Downing added 16 points for the Lakers. Jabbi, Kendrick Pollard, and Dom White had three blocked shots apiece for Oswego State, as they held the Hawks to 39.4 percent shooting from the field in the game.

Hilbert was led by 20 points and 12 rebounds from Malcolm Edwards and 15 points from Mike Reyes.