(Washington, D.C.) – Arcadia University held off a late charge by the Dickinson men's basketball team to split the season series with an 88-77 win on Friday at the Catholic University Holiday Inn College Park Classic. Both match-ups were on a neutral court as the Red Devils opened the season with an 81-74 win over the Crusaders in the Hyatt Place Tip-Off Tournament at the University of Mary Washington.

Sophomore Elijah Wright (Orange, N.J./The Pennington School) scored a game-high 28 points on the night, hitting 7-of-10 shots from the field while converting 13-of-17 free throws.

The game went back-and-forth in the early minutes as the teams played to a tie at 10-10. First-year Bryce Allen (Albany, N.Y./The Hill School) hit a three-pointer before a 10-0 run put the Crusaders in front, 20-13, with just under 13 minutes remaining in the first half.

Jule Brown (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) knocked down a pair of three-pointers and Justus Melton (Charlotte, N.C./Covenant Day) pulled the Devils within four at the 8:38 mark. Wright and Brown chipped the lead to a field-goal with a four straight free throws, making the score 30-28.

Wright added seven points from the stripe to close out the first half with Arcadia on top, 45-39.

Arcadia held the lead throughout the second half but could not pull away. Melton converted to cut the advantage to 56-51, with 14:48 to play. The Crusaders stretched the margin to 16 before Dickinson made a final run.

Melton finished a pass from Brown and converted a three-point play to make the score, 77-71, with 2:36 left to play. Ryan Kelley answered with a lay-up and added four free throws down the stretch to secure the win for Arcadia.

Wright added six rebounds and four steals to his 28 points. Melton scored 19 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists while Brown reached double-figures with 10 points, adding four rebounds and two assists.

Kelley finished with 25 points to lead Arcadia as they improve to 6-5 overall. The Red Devils slip to 6-4 on the season. They return home to face #14-ranked Susquehanna University on Tuesday night at 7:00 pm.