The CCRI Knights women’s basketball team recently trounced rival Dean College to win the Region XXI championship then went on to defeat #18 ranked Harcum College 74-65 to win the District IX Northeast District. With the win the Knights improve their record to 15-11 and earn their third straight trip to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament, March 15-18 in Phoenix, Arizona.

In the Harcum game, some of CCRI's brightest stars shone. Monet Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the Knights in scoring with 36 points, including 23 in the second half with 11 rebounds, two steals and a block. Odessa Williams (Stratford, Conn.) came off the bench to score 17 points with seven rebounds, four assists and a block. Also contributing for the Knights were Tamara Shaw (Norwalk, Conn.) with five points and seven assists, Jenny Kinney (Milford, N.J.) scored five points with eight rebounds while Renee Buck (FT Gully, Victoria, Australia) added five assists and five steals.

On the men's side, the #15 ranked CCRI Knights men’s basketball team defeated the Warriors of Massasoit CC 101-77 to win the Region XXI Championship for the second straight year, improving their record to 20-8 on the season. Marvin Owens (Bridgeport, Conn.) led all scorers with 31 points, giving him 772 points this season. Owens has now broken the CCRI single-season scoring mark set by Ken McDonald with 754 points in the 1989-90 season. With 1,385 career points, Owens is just 13 points from matching and 14 points from owning the CCRI all-time scoring mark set by Brendan Murphy (‘90-‘92). Also contributing for the Knights were Jeremi Taitt (Roslindale, Mass.) who scored 18 points with 10 rebounds, Travon Little (Danbury, Conn.) who scored 13 points with 10 rebounds, and Marquis Victor (Lawrence, Mass.) who added 11 points. With the win the Knights have earned a bid into the District IX Northeast District Tournament to be held March 11-12^th at Region XIX’s top seed school.

...To trophy Photo by Dan Aurelio

Jasmine Jennings (Warwick) placed second in the weight throw with a toss of 54’04". This gave Jennings second team All-American honors for the second year in a row. Sherilyn Nicholas (Taunton, Mass.) finished in 8th place in the 800m run. This was Nicholas’s best finish at the Division I indoor track Nationals in any event. Nicholas made it to the finals in the 800m with a preliminary time of 2:27.80, her second-best-ever time in the event. On the men’s side Mike Dolan (South Kingstown), CCRI’s only male athlete at the championship, finished in 14th place in the weight throw with a toss of 44’11".