Le Moyne (1-0) vs. Xavier University (1-0)
Info: Thursday, Nov. 6 | 7:00 PM | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cintas Center
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: FOX Sports 92.5 FM/1490 AM
Live Stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=616247
Xavier Links: Schedule | Roster | News

LAST TIME OUT
The Dolphins are coming off a season-opening 94-50 win over SUNY Cobleskill on Monday. Redshirt sophomore guard Deng Garang led the Dolphins with 16 points, 11 of which came in the second half, while adding five rebounds and three assists. Junior guard Tennessee Rainwater registered 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field in his Dolphin debut. Freshmen guards Eli Greenberg and Josiah Lee each posted 12 points off the bench in their collegiate debuts, while Greenberg had three assists and two steals and Lee grabbed four rebounds.

YEAR #3
The Dolphins are in their third year transitioning to the Division I level (as members of the NEC) and Le Moyne is the only school in the third year of the transition process. The Dolphins went 15-17 in their first season at the Division I level, including 9-7 in NEC action to earn the fourth seed in the conference tournament. The Dolphins won their first game of the NEC Championship over FDU, 82-61, before falling in the semifinals at Merrimack. The program went 9-23 a year ago, including 4-12 in NEC play, and was the eighth seed in the conference tournament.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Dolphins and Musketeers are meeting on the hardwood for the first time and it is Le Moyne's fourth matchup against a member of the BIG EAST since transitioning to the Division I level. The game is Le Moyne's eighth in the state of Ohio, where they have a 3-4 record, and first since the 2019-20 season (at Lake Erie).

COMMON OPPONENTS
The Dolphins and Musketeers have one common opponent this year, Saint Francis. The Dolphins and Red Flash play at Saint Francis on January 2 to start NEC play and square off in Syracuse on February 7. Xavier hosts Saint Francis on Monday, December 1

JESUIT CONNECTION
Le Moyne and Xavier are two of 27 Jesuit institutions in the United States. The Dolphins will take on two more Jesuit institutions later this season. They host Fairfield University on November 22 and head to Boston College on December 28.

WELCOME BACK
The Dolphins feature six returning letterwinners and two redshirts. Sam Donnelly is a second-year graduate student, Nate Fouts, Trent Mosquera and Kaelin Thomas are redshirt juniors, Deng Garang and Trevor Roe are redshirt sophomores and Jakob Blakley and Isaac Nyakundi are sophomores.
 
NEW FACES
The Dolphins welcomed seven new players to the program for 2025-26. Ametri Moss is a graduate student following two years apiece at State College of Florida and North Florida; Shilo Jackson joined the team as a fifth-year senior following two years at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and two years at Vincennes; Tennessee Rainwater, who enrolled at Le Moyne following two seasons at Utah Tech, and Samuel Hincapie, who came to Le Moyne after two years at Lake Land College, are juniors and Jakai Sanders is a sophomore after one year at Saint Peter's, while Eli Greenberg and Josiah Lee are freshmen.

NEC PRESEASON POLL
In the NEC preseason coaches' poll, the Dolphins were picked to finish ninth in the regular season standings, the same position they finished last year. LIU, which advanced to the semifinals last year, was the unanimous selection to win the league, while back-to-back regular season champion Central Connecticut State landed second in the preseason coaches poll. Stonehill College finished third and Mercyhurst University, which is eligible for the conference tournament this year, placed fourth. FDU, which fell to CCSU in the semifinals, landed fifth and Chicago State, last year's seventh seed, moved up a spot from a year ago. Defending tournament champion Saint Francis University placed seventh in the poll and Wagner College, the 2024 champion, finished eighth. Conference newcomer University of New Haven rounded out the poll in 10th.

COACH CHAMP
Le Moyne head coach Nate Champion '14 is the sixth-youngest head coach in Division I this season following back-to-back years as the second-youngest, celebrating his 34th birthday in early December. Tevon Saddler (30) at Nicholls is the youngest, while Saah Nimley (Charleston Southern), John Andrzejek (Campbell) and Zach Chu (Radford) are all 32 and Ronnie Thomas (Longwood) is 33. In his first five seasons leading the Dolphins, Champion has posted a 70-79 record and led the Dolphins to the conference tournament each season and the 2020 NCAA Tournament (canceled prior to first game due to COVID pandemic). Champion served as an assistant coach at fellow NEC member Stonehill during the 2016-17 season.

FIRST WINS
The Dolphins earned their first win as a Division I program on November 13, 2023 over Division III SUNY Canton, 105-46. They claimed their first victory as a Division I program over a Division I program on November 21, 2023 at CSUN, 80-70, during the first game of the Golden State Hoops Jam. They collected their first home victory as a Division I program over a Division I program on December 16, 2023 over Dartmouth College, 80-54. The 'Phins earned their first NEC victory on January 6, 2024 at FDU, 74-63.

SCOUTING XAVIER
The Musketeer are led by first-year head coach Richard Pitino, who was hired on March 25, 2025 following four seasons leading New Mexico. He has also been a head coach at Minnesota (2013-21) and Florida International (2012-13).

The Musketeers return four players, who combined to play four games and score two points, from its 2024-25 team that went 22-12 overall, 13-7 in the BIG East and went 1-1 in the NCAA Tournament, while adding 11 transfers and one freshmen.
 
Xavier opened the season with a 66-62 home win over Marist University on Monday. The Musketeers had four players score in double figures, led by 16 from Malik Messina-Moore. All Wright, who was the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year last year at Valparaiso, and Jovan Milicevic, who followed Pitino from New Mexico, each tallied 14 points off the bench in their Xavier debuts. Tre Carroll, who was the America Athletic Conference Co-Most Improved Player of the Year last season at Florida Atlantic, was the fourth player in double digits with 11 points.

WHAT'S NEXT:
Le Moyne will travel to Bowling Green, Ohio to take on Bowling Green State University on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.