DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — Delaware State got off to a good start on Saturday evening.

But the Hornets couldn’t make it last, eventually falling to Seattle, 79-66, in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational men’s basketball tournament.

The tourney gave the Hornets a second chance to extend their season after falling to Howard in the MEAC Tournament finals last Saturday.

Making only the program’s fifth appearance in a post-season tourney, the Hornets built an early 14-5 advantage on a putback by Raymond Sommerville with 13:37 left in the first half.

The Redhawks, however, rallied to take a 34-33 advantage by intermission. DelState never led again, eventually fell behind by as many as 19 points in the second half and never got within seven in the final 13 minutes.

The Hornets finish the season with a record of 15-19, their most wins since 2015.

Freshman Deywilk Tavarez netted a team-high 15 points and five assists for DSU. He was the only Hornet to score in double figures.

The Hornets shot only 2-of-9 from three-point range and committed 17 turnovers,

Cameron Tyson led Seattle with 19 points after sinking 5-of-13 three-point attempts. He and teammate John Christofilis (16 points) were a combined 8-of-20 from beyond the arc.

The Redhawks led for 23:37 of the contest. Seattle will next face the winner of the Quinnipiac-Evenasville game.