NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. - Visiting Rhode Island College led virtually the entire game and held off a late rally to defeat the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's men's basketball team, 55-52, in the championship game of the Little East Conference Tournament at the Tripp Athletic Center Saturday.

The Anchormen, who took the lead for good on a three-pointer by freshman guard Anthony Fortes (East Providence, R.I.) in the second minute of the game, held the Corsairs to 26.7 per cent from the field in building a 30-24 halftime lead.

A layup by junior forward Zerimar Ramirez (Pawtucket, RI) with 8:26 remaining gave the Anchormen a 45-37 advantage. The Corsairs rallied, with freshman Brandon Stephens' (Dorchester, Mass.) three-pointer cutting the gap to 49-46 with 2:18 to play, and another three-pointer by senior guard A.J. Tavares (New Bedford, Mass.) reducing the lead to 51-49 with 57 seconds remaining. But junior guard Bobby Bailey (Fall River, Mass.) drove for a layup with 25 seconds left, Tavares missed from three-point range with 12 seconds remaining, and junior guard Cameron Stewart (Newport, R.I.) made two free throws with eight seconds left before Corsair sophomore forward Matt Walker (Brockton, Mass.) hit a three-pointer just before time expired.

"We didn't shoot the ball well, but RIC's defense had something to do with it," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Brian Baptiste. "They were the better team today, and they deserved to win. We didn't shoot free throws well, and you're not going to win many tight games when you don't shoot free throws better than we did."

Senior center Dan Holbrook (Lexington, Mass.) led the Corsairs with a double double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Stephens added 12 points. Bailey and Fortes each scored 14 points to lead Rhode Island College. Junior forward Kaseem Johnson (New Haven, Conn.) grabbed eight rebounds as the Anchormen out rebounded the Corsairs, 38-36 and won despite committing 28 turnovers. UMass Dartmouth was held to 32.8 per cent from the field for the game and made eight of 18 free throws. Bailey was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

UMass Dartmouth dropped to 25-3 with the loss, while the Anchormen raised their overall record to 21-6 with the win. Rhode Island College earned the Little East Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships. The Corsairs will await a possible at-large bid. The field will be announced Monday, March 3 at noon.