NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. -The NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Committee announced its third regional rankings this evening, and Rhode Island College and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth are each ranked in the 10-team Northeast Region. The Anchormen continued their steady climb up the charts to fourth, while the Corsairs slip to sixth.

WPI regain the top ranking in the regional poll with a pair of road victories, coupled with a loss by Middlebury College and UMass Dartmouth. The Panthers sit in the second position followed by Elms College. Bridgewater State College is sandwiched between Rhode Island College and the Corsairs, while Salem State College, Amherst College, University of New England, and Brandeis University complete this week's listing.

The No. 18 Anchormen raised their current win streak to 10 games with a 3-0 mark this past week, defeating UMass Dartmouth, Roger Williams University, and the University of Southern Maine. Head Coach Bob Walsh and his charges sport a 4-2 mark against teams in the Northeast Region. Sophomore guard Antone Gray (Providence, R.I.) paced five student-athletes in double figures in scoring this past week with 13.3 points per game. Gray reached double digits in each of his two conference contests, including a week-high 18-point performance against the Corsairs. Senior forward Kaseem Johnson (New Haven, Conn.) averaged a double-double for the week, scoring 11.3 points and pulling in 10 rebounds. Rhode Island College can clinch the top-seed and home court advantage throughout the 2009 Little East Conference Championship Tournament with a victory over Western or Eastern Connecticut State University this week.

UMass Dartmouth continued to spread the scoring throughout the lineup this past week as six players averaged at least 10 points in the scoring column, paced by junior forward Brandon Shelton's (Cambridge, Mass.) 19. The Corsairs have won 16 of their past 18 games to earn the No. 19 ranking in the latest edition of the D3Hoops.com Top-25 national poll. UMass Dartmouth sits atop the conference standings in nearly every offensive team category: scoring offense (82.8 ppg), scoring margin (+14.3), field goal percentage (45.7), and three-point percentage (38.3). The Corsairs have three student-athletes in the top-10 in the Little East in scoring average, led by Shelton (18.1 ppg). UMass Dartmouth has already clinched a quarterfinal round playoff game at the Tripp Athletic Center, and needs the Anchormen to drop both of their remaining games to earn the top seed in the Little East Conference Championship Tournament.

The NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Committee will announce its fourth and final Northeast Region poll on Wednesday, Feb. 25. The NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Selection Committee will release the national field on Monday, March 2. The Little East Conference Tournament Champion will earn the conference's automatic qualifier in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.