(Fredericksburg, Va.) – The Dickinson men's basketball team won its season opener and advanced to the championship game of the Hyatt Place Tip-off Tournament, hosted by the University of Mary Washington. The Red Devils held off a late run by Arcadia University to top the Crusaders, 81-74, on Friday night.

The Red Devils had a strong start, jumping out to an 11-5 lead. Moses Romocki (Creedmoor, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) hit a three-pointer and Jule Brown (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) converted a conventional three-point play to highlight the opening run.

Jon Stenger (Midlothian, Va./James River) knocked-down a three-pointer to double-up the Crusaders, 18-9 and Elijah Wright (Orange, N.J./The Pennington School) would hit back-to-back field-goals to put Dickinson up, 26-13, and later hit a three-pointer for a 29-18 lead with 5:42 remaining in the half.

Arcadia rallied and cut the lead to 34-28 with sophomore guard Mike Hinckley (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Episcopal Academy) and Wright providing the offense to keep the Devils in front. Sophomore Corey Sherman (Penn Valley, Pa./Lower Merion) hit a three-pointer and Romocki scored to close out the half with Dickinson on top, 43-32.

Wright added seven points in the opening five minutes of the second half, stretching the margin to 54-41. The Crusaders made a run to pull within five at the 13-minute mark.

Sherman sank a pair of three-pointers to give Dickinson a 60-53 advantage. Arcadia pulled within a field-goal at 62-60 before Brown went to work on the offense end. Along with sophomore Michael Jurzynski (Pearl River, N.Y./The Master's School), Brown and the Devils stretched the lead to eight.

Hinckley and Brown hit back-to-back three-pointers from the corner to give the Devils a 78-69 lead, with just under three minutes to play. The Devils added three free throws down the stretch for the final of 81-74.

Wright led the way with a game-high 19 points and four rebounds, hitting 7-of-10 shots and adding three steals. Brown tallied 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting and Romocki reached double-figures as well with 10 points on the night.

Sherman finished with a trio of three-pointers while Hinckley tallied nine points and four assists. Jurzynski scored six points and grabbed four rebounds and Justus Melton (Charlotte, N.C./Covenant Day) chipped in with five points and five rebounds with both blocking a pair of shots.

The Red Devils advance to Saturday's final and will face host Mary Washington at 2:00 pm. The Eagles earned their spot in the championship with a 94-43 win over Washington & Jefferson.