Men’s Basketball
The CCRI Knights men’s basketball team defeated Massasoit Community College from Brockton, Mass., 85-63. With the victory the Knights improve their record to 20-10 and earn their fifth straight Region XXI title.
The Knights used their trademarked balanced-attack, which proved to be too much for the Warriors. The Knights found themselves trailing 16-10 and leading scorer Lee Mitchell (New London, Conn.) had to exit the game at the 12:20 mark of the first half with three fouls. Luckily for the Knights their depth served them well. Dave Storti (Exeter) would shoulder the scoring load for the Knights for the remainder of the half. Storti would score 11 of his 15 first half points to lead the Knights on a 29-19 run to close the half giving them the 39-35 halftime lead.
In the second half The Knights cranked up the defensive pressure, which led to turnovers and easy baskets for the Knights. From there the Knights leaned on their big man Tyrone Nared (Woonsocket) who gave the crowd at the Cullen Field House many reasons to stand up and cheer. Nared threw down three vicious slam dunks early in the half as the Knights extended their lead to 14 points at 51-37. The Knights’ second-half pressure was relentless, which allowed them to build their lead up to as many as 24 points before cruising to the 85-63 victory.
Storti scored a game-high 22 points with three assists, three rebounds and two blocked shots while Nared returned to form by charting his 14th double-double of the season with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Three other player also scored in double-figures for the Knights. Mitchell finished with 11 points, five assist and four steals, Pat Sturdahl (Exeter) scored 11 points with six rebounds, four assists and three steals and Colin Burns (Chepachet) added 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Head coach Rick Harris commented after the big win: “Today was a great day for the CCRI Men’s basketball program,” CCRI coach Rick Harris said. “We won our fifth straight Region XXI Championship and we did it with one of our best second halves of the season. I couldn’t be any prouder, especially with our 30 team assists. The fifth straight is just as sweet because each and every year the target on our back gets bigger and bigger. Our 10 freshmen and three sophomores have done a wonderful job to bring home this championship.”
The Knights now look forward to playing in the Northeast District Championship game hosted by the Region III Champion Monroe Community College Tribunes (27-5). The Northeast District Championship Game will be Saturday, March 7.

Women’s Basketball
The Lady Knights did not have a game this week because they had already clinched the Region XXI Championship, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a big weekend. CCRI found out it will be facing No. 5-ranked Union County College [28-0] in the upcoming Northeast District Championship.
This will be the third year straight that the Lady Knights will face Union County College in the District Championship. The Lady Knights won the first two District Championship meetings but they will have an uphill battle this year, having already lost to Union, 63-50, on January 18 at the CCRI Invitational.
The District Championship game will be Saturday, March 7 at noon at Cullen Field House located on the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick.

Indoor Track
The CCRI Indoor Track Team will be sending two runners to the NJCAA Indoor Track Championships March 6 and 7 at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. Sprinter Blest Norris (Pawtucket) and middle-distance runner Everett LaMountain (Smithfield) left Wednesday for the championships along with head coach Gregg Cornell and assistant coach Paula Klepadlo.