This has been a satisfying, and in one case spectacular, season in our small part of the college basketball world. Six teams posted winning records. One finished at .500. Two have qualified for NCAA Tournaments, and two more are longshot possibilities. One is a victory away from the national junior-college tournament.

Here’s a rundown.

•Unless somebody wins a national championship, Rhode Island College is a lock for story of the year. The Anchormen (26-3) are in the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 and will advance to the Elite Eight Saturday night if they can beat Little East Conference rival Keene State in the sectional tournament at 6 p.m. Friday at Amherst College.

RIC has set a school record for victories in a season, won the LEC regular-season championship and LEC tournament title and defeated Coast guard and Brandeis in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re having a blast,” coach Bob Walsh said yesterday, less than 48 hours after his Anchormen hung on for a 70-67 triumph over 20-7 Brandeis in an NCAA second-round game at The Murray Center. RIC had rallied for a 64-60 triumph over Coast Guard in the first round Friday night.

“To see the Murray Center the way it was Friday and Saturday, the atmosphere was unbelievable,” Walsh said.

Now it’s Keene State. Again. This will be the fourth meeting of the two teams this season. Keene won two during the regular season but RIC won the LEC championship game.

Walsh noted that this will also be the seventh game between them in the last 15 months. Each has won three, one on the road and two at home. Knowing that, would you say these teams are evenly matched? It’s a good thing the seventh game is at a neutral site.

“I don’t know if it makes it any more complex or easier,” Walsh said of the number of times Keene and RIC have played. He did suggest that game preparation should be simpler because he and his players know Keene so well.

“It allows us to concentrate on our team, which is comforting,” the RIC coach said.

Of course, the same is true for Keene.

At this point in the season, neither team will make significant changes to gain a slight edge. Smart playoff teams stick with what got them there. So Walsh will use 10 players, spread the ball around, hope someone gets hot in the first half and pray that Kinsey Durgin is able to make big shots down the stretch, as he has so often this year.

“It will come down to who plays better and who plays tougher,” Walsh said. Toughness is a theme he has preached since the playoffs started.

“Keene is a great team,” he added. “We’re a great team. There’s a lot of talent out there. So it’s a lot of little plays. … . The tougher team will win.”

If the tougher team does win, it will play either Amherst or Stevens Institute of Technology Saturday night.

The RIC department of athletics is sponsoring a bus trip to Amherst. Check ric.edu/athletics or call (401) 456-8007.

•Bryant (19-10) is the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Division II Northeast Regional and will play No. 6 Adelphi Saturday at Waltham, Mass. Bryant is the only team in the region to qualify each of the last four seasons. Bryant beat Adelphi two years ago en route to the regional title and a runner-up finish at the Division II national tournament.

The Bryant-Adelphi winner will play either Saint Rose or Pace in the regional semifinals. Top-seeded Bentley (29-0) is the favorite. The Falcons are ranked No. 2 in the nation.

Chris Burns, first-team All-Northeast-10, and Jon Ezeokoli, third team, lead the Bulldogs.

• The University of Rhode Island (17-13, 10-16) won more games than almost everybody anticipated and will be the fourth seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament this week in Atlantic City. The Rams have a first-round bye and will play either Fordham or Richmond in the quarterfinals.

Forward Will Daniels led URI this season with a 17.2 scoring average and yesterday was named first-team all-conference. Sophomore Jimmy Baron (East Greenwich) received honorable mention. He averaged 14.9 points per game.

Jim Baron is the A-10 coach of the year. His team was picked to finish 11th.

•Providence College (18-11, 8-8) is back in the Big East Tournament after missing the 2006 event, and Herbert Hill is a big reason. He led the league in scoring (19.9) and was second in rebounding (9.8). Last week he averaged 27.5 points, 11 rebounds and 6 blocked shots, and as a result is the Big East player of the week.

Yesterday, Hill, a senior, was one of 11 players named first-team All-Big East. Sophomores Sharaud Curry and Geoff McDermott received honorable mention.

The 10th-seeded Friars will play seventh-seeded West Virginia tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden.

•Roger Williams (15-11, 10-6) was among the Commonwealth Coast Conference leaders for most of the season. The Hawks lost in the CCC tournament and fell in the ECAC quarterfinals.

•UMass-Dartmouth (14-13, 8-6) lost to red-hot Rhode Island College in the Little East tournament.

•Salve Regina (13-13, 8-8) lost to Gordon in the CCC quarterfinals. Senior Jon Hazzard (North Kingstown) played a game to remember in his home finale when he scored 28 points, his career high, in a victory over Eastern Nazarene.

•Brown (11-18, 6-8) improved as the season went on under first-year coach Craig Robinson, and Mark McAndrew (Barrington) emerged as one of the best players in the Ivy League.

•Johnson & Wales (10-16, 8-8) won its last three regular-season games but lost in overtime to Rivier College in the GNAC tournament.

•Wheaton (11-15, 3-9) lost by two points to Coast Guard in the NEWMAC semifinals. Brian Zukowski was a three-time second-team all-conference selection, a school first.

•CCRI (15-16) won the Region 21 championship and will play Harcum (32-2) Saturday at 1 p.m. for the Northeast District championship.

Roundup

Wrestlers from Johnson & Wales and Rhode Island College returned from the NCAA Divison III Championships as All-Americans. JWU’s Brandon McDonough finished third at 125 pounds and Steve Martell seventh at 165. RIC’s Mike Bonora was sixth at 141 and became the school’s first All-American in 12 years. Diego Crespo of JWU was 1-2 at 197 pounds, and Andy Lacroix of Roger Williams lost in the first round at 141. Wrestlers from 63 schools competed. … Brown wrestling captains Shawn Kitchner and Lvon Mock are heading to the NCAA Division I Championships at Auburn Hills, Mich., March 15-17, after fourth-place finishes at the Easterns. … The RIC gymnastics team snapped a 43-match losing streak by beating Wilson College Sunday. The Anchorwomen won each event. … Nicole Stefanik (Coventry) ran a leg on Eastern Connecticut’s distance medley relay and earned Division III All-New England recognition. … Stephanie Gilson (Johnston/La Salle) is wrapping up her gymnastics career at Ithaca College. She was the Bombers’ top finisher on the beam at the Harriet Marranca Memorial. … Bryant’s Hafiz Greigre (Attleboro) will run the 200 at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships this weekend in Boston. He had the second-fastest time in the nation this winter (21.33).

mszostak@projo.com