Game #11: Le Moyne (5-5) vs. Texas (7-4) 
Info: Tuesday, Dec. 16 | 8:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. CT | Austin, Texas | Moody Center
Watch: SEC+
Radio: FOX Sports 92.5 FM/1490 AM
Live Stats: https://texaslonghorns.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
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Austin, Texas – The Le Moyne College men's basketball team heads to the University of Texas on Tuesday evening for its first game against an SEC opponent.

LAST TIME OUT
The Dolphins won for the third time in four games on Saturday, December 6 with a 78-63 victory over Binghamton University. Redshirt junior guard Trent Mosquera led the Dolphins with 21 points, 11 of which came in the first half, while posting four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Graduate student forward Shilo Jackson registered his fourth straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt sophomore guard Deng Garang finished with 12 points, including nine in the second half, four rebounds and three assists. Junior guard Tennessee Rainwater was the fourth Dolphin in double digits with 10 points, while adding a season-high eight rebounds and a career-best four steals.

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 Longhorns are meeting on the hardwood for the first time.

COMMON OPPONENTS
The Dolphins and Bearcats have three common opponents this year, Lafayette and FDU. The Dolphins defeated Lafayette, 76-63, on November 28, will visit FDU on January 25 and host the Knights on February 26. Texas defeated Lafayette, 97-60, on November 8 and FDU, 93-58, on November 12.

JESUIT CONNECTION
The Dolphins face three fellow Jesuit institutions this season. They fell at Xavier University on November 6, 74-69, fell at home to Fairfield University on November 22, 97-83, 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, who spent two years apiece at State College of Florida and North Florida, and Shilo Jackson, who joined the team following two years each at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Vincennes, are graduate students; 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.

PRIME PERFORMERS
The Dolphins have had three players earn Northeast Conference weekly Prime Performer honors.
Trent Mosquera – 11/10, 12/1, 12/8                           Jakai Sanders – 11/17
Shilo Jackson – 11/24, 12/1, 12/8

DOLPHINS IN THE NEC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Shilo Jackson leads the NEC with a 67.9 field goal percentage, a mark that is seventh in Division I, but Le Moyne student-athletes don't qualify for national rankings during the institution's transition period. He also leads the league in rebounding (9.3) (33rd nationally), offensive rebounding (3.3) (tied for 42nd nationally), blocks (2.2) (tied for 27th nationally) and double-doubles (6) (tied for sixth nationally) and is second in defensive rebounding (6.0), fourth in free throw percentage (.810), 11th in scoring (14.5) and 18th in assists (2.0). Trent Mosquera leads the NEC with a 46.3 three-point percentage (27th nationally), and is second in three-pointers per game (3.1) (tied for 40th nationally), sixth in steals (1.6), seventh in minutes (31.6) and defensive rebounding (4.9), ninth in scoring (15.1) and 14th in assists (2.5) and rebounding (5.3). Deng Garang is fifth in minutes (31.9), 12th in three-pointers per game (1.6) and 13th in scoring (12.6) and steals (1.3). Jakai Sanders is third in assists (4.2), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.6), fifth in free throw percentage (.800), eighth in minutes (31.5) and 19th in scoring (11.0).

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 TEXAS
The Longhorns are led by first-year head coach Sean Miller. In 20 seasons as a head coach at Xavier University and the University of Arizona, Miller has posted a 487-196 (.713) record, won eight regular-season conference titles and four conference tournament championships. He has guided teams to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, including four trips to the Elite Eight and eight to the Sweet 16.

Texas returned six players, including three who started at least nine games, from its 2024-25 team that went 19-16 overall, 6-12 in SEC play and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament First Four (against Xavier, which was coached by Miller), while adding three freshmen and six transfers.

Texas is off to a 7-4 start to the season. The Longhorns are coming off an 71-63 loss to UConn on Friday. Jordan Pope and Tramon Mark each tallied 15 points to lead the team. Lassina Traore led the team with seven rebounds and three steals.

Matas Vokietaitis, the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year last year at Florida Atlantic, leads the Longhorns in scoring (15.3 ppg.) and is tied for second in rebounding (6.5). Dailyn Swain, who played for Miller the last two years at Xavier, posts 15.1 points per game and has a team-high 36 assists. Pope and Mark average 12.7 and 10.4 points, respectively. Traore averages a team-best 7.0 rebounds.

WHAT'S NEXT
Le Moyne will travel to St. Bonaventure University on Saturday with tipoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m.