NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. -The NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Committee released its first edition of the Northeast Regional rankings this afternoon. The top-two teams in the Little East Conference standings are featured in the 10-team field. The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth debuted at No. 3, while Rhode Island College is five spots behind in the eighth position.

Worcester Polytechnic (16-3) sits atop the Northeast Region, followed by Middlebury College (18-2) and the Corsairs (17-2). Elms College (17-1), Salem State College (15-4), MIT (14-5), and Colby College (13-5) are ranked fourth through seventh, respectively. The Anchormen (14-4), Amherst College (16-3), and Bridgewater State College (13-5) round out the regional survey.  

Under the direction of Head Coach Brian Baptiste, UMass Dartmouth recently defeated the fifth-ranked Vikings at home, 95-77, on Jan. 29 to earn the Corsairs lone victory in three tries against teams listed in the regional poll. UMass Dartmouth leads the conference offensive rankings in three-point percentage (36.8%), assists (17.2 apg), and scoring offense (80.4 ppg), while ranking second in field goal percentage (44.6%). The Corsairs feature a well-balanced offensive attack with four student-athletes averaging double figures in the scoring column, paced by junior forward Brandon Shelton's (Cambridge, Mass.) league-best 18.7 points per games. Senior guard Reece Freeman (Cambridge, Mass.) pilots the UMass Dartmouth attack, ranking among the national leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd, 3.77) and assists per game (16th, 6.2). The Freeman-led attack has helped the Corsairs sport the 36th most productive offense in the nation.

Rhode Island College has won six straight games and 10 of its past 11 contests since the start of the calendar year. The Anchormen sport a 2-2 mark against regionally-ranked opponents, including an 11-point victory over the ninth-rated Lord Jeffs last night at The Murray Center. The win over Amherst College gave Head Coach Bob Walsh his fourth consecutive campaign with at least 15 victories. Senior guard Bobby Bailey (Fall River, Mass.) leads five student-athletes in double figures in scoring with 11.9 points per game during the current 11-game stretch. Classmates Tirrell Hill (Bronx, N.Y.) and Cameron Stewart (Newport, R.I.) are also averaging at least 11 points to help Rhode Island College outscore its opponents by a total of 94 points (833-727).   

The NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Committee will release its second regional poll on Wednesday, Feb. 11.