GRANTHAM (PA) -- The Delaware Valley University men's basketball team traveled to Messiah College for the weekend to play in the Messiah Tip-Off Tournament, but fell to Eastern Mennonite University, 68-57, in its first round matchup on Friday night.

It was the first win of the young season for the Royals who moved to 1-1 while the Aggies dropped to 0-2.

Eastern Mennonite led by eight points halfway through the first stanza after Isaiah Harris-Winn's second three pointer of the half made it 14-6.

DelVal responded with an 11-2 run behind a combined 10 points from juniors Andre Butler and Alex Matsinye to take a 17-16 lead. It led by as many as six points in the half after Jadon Robinson grabbed a rebound and sprung Lybrant Robinson for a layup to make it 26-20 with just over two minutes left in the first half.

The Royals closed out the half with eight of the final 11 points to cut their deficit to just one, 29-28, entering the break.

Damian Washington connected on a trey to put the Aggies ahead 34-31 early in the second half. From there, Eastern Mennonite went on a 13-2 run to regain an eight point lead at 44-36. Four different Royals scored in the run including Rashawn Latimer who contributed four points.

DelVal countered with an 8-2 run capped off by a fast-break layup by Washington that was set up by a steal and dish from Matsinye to make it a two-point game with just under 10 minutes left in regulation.

Eastern Mennonite maintained a four point lead with less than five to play after Butler grabbed a defensive board for the Aggies and hit a jumper on the other end to make it 54-50.

However, the Royals went 8-for-12 from the charity stripe down the stretch to close out the game and advance to the tournament championship game with a 68-57 victory.

Butler led DelVal with 16 points and eight rebounds while adding two steals and a block and just one turnover. Washington was the only other Aggie in double figures scoring as he dropped 15 points to go with four boards, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot. As a team, DelVal shot 38 percent (21-for-55) and was just 2-for-20 from beyond the arc.

Eastern Mennonite placed four players in double-digit scoring while shooting 40.4 percent (21-of-52) from the field and 30.4 (7-for-23) from deep. Maleke Jones led the team with 16 points while Harris-Winn grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Aggies' head coach Mark Seidenburg who coached in the same gym during a four-year stint on the Messiah coaching staff before taking the helm at DelVal a season ago.

DelVal will take on d Wilson College in the consolation game slated for 1:00 tomorrow afternoon.