Game #12: Le Moyne (5-6) vs. St. Bonaventure (10-2) 
Info: Saturday, Dec. 20 | 1:00 p.m. | St. Bonaventure, N.Y. | Reilly Center
Watch: YES & ESPN+
Radio: FOX Sports 92.5 FM/1490 AM
Live Stats: https://gobonnies.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
St. Bonaventure Links: Schedule | Roster | Stats | News 

St. Bonaventure, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College men's basketball team plays its second-to-last non-conference game of the season on Saturday at St. Bonaventure.

LAST TIME OUT
The Dolphins are coming off a 95-53 setback at the University of Texas on Tuesday. Redshirt junior guard Trent Mosquera led the Dolphins with 14 points (nine in the second half), eight rebounds and four steals. Sophomore guard Jakai Sanders tallied 12 points off the bench, including seven after halftime. Redshirt sophomore guard Deng Garang posted 10 points, including eight in the first half.

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 Bonnies are meeting on the hardwood for the second straight year and 16th time overall. St. Bonaventure has won each of the previous 15 matchups, dating back to the 1949-50 season. The two squads faced off 13 times between 1949 and 1958 and once more in 2009 when St. Bonaventure came away with a 76-65 victory in Olean. In all, Le Moyne is 0-6 at home and 0-9 on the road against St. Bonaventure, including last year's 71-52 setback.

COMMON OPPONENTS
The Dolphins and Bonnies do not have any common opponents this year.

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

NET RANKINGS
Through games on December 18, Le Moyne is 297th in the latest NCAA NET rankings, fourth among NEC members, while St. Bonaventure is ranked 96th, seventh among Atlantic 10 members.

DOLPHINS IN THE NEC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Shilo Jackson leads the NEC with a 62.9 field goal percentage, a mark that is 25th 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 (8.6) (tied for 52nd nationally), offensive rebounding (3.0) (tied for 68th nationally), blocks (2.2) (tied for 26th nationally) and double-doubles (6) (tied for eighth nationally) and is third in defensive rebounding (5.6), fifth in free throw percentage (.787) and 11th in scoring (13.6). Trent Mosquera leads the NEC with a 43.8 three-point percentage (tied for 40th nationally), and is second in three-pointers per game (2.9) (tied for 64th nationally), fourth in steals (1.8), fifth in defensive rebounding (5.1), eighth in minutes (31.5), ninth in scoring (15.0) and 14th in assists (2.5) and rebounding (5.5). Deng Garang is fifth in minutes (32.3), 14th in three-pointers per game (1.5) and scoring (12.4) and 17th in steals (1.2). Jakai Sanders is third in assists (3.9), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.5), sixth in free throw percentage (.800), 11th in minutes (31.0) and 19th in scoring (11.1).

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 ST. BONAVENTURE
The Bonnies are led by 19th-year head coach Mark Schmidt. In 24 overall seasons as a head coach at St. Bonaventure and Robert Morris University, Schmidt has posted a 416-330 record, including 334-240 at St. Bonaventure, won two regular-season conference titles and two conference tournament championships. He has guided teams to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the Second Round.

St. Bonaventure returned four players, only one of whom played against the Dolphins last year (Dasonte Bowen), from its 2024-25 team that went 22-12 overall, 9-9 in A10 play and earned a berth in the NIT, while adding four freshmen and seven transfers.

The Bonnies are off to a 10-2 start to the season. St. Bonaventure is coming off an 88-83 overtime loss to Ohio last Saturday. Frank Mitchell led the Bonnies with his sixth straight double-double with 27 points and 15 rebounds. Bowen tallied 17 points and dished out seven assists. Daniel Egbuniwe had 12 points off the bench.

Mitchell, an All-MAAC Second Team selection two years ago at Canisius, leads the Bonnies in scoring (16.3 ppg.) and rebounding (11.6) and ranks second nationally with nine double-doubles. Darryl Simmons II averages 14.8 points and 2.8 assists in his first year with the Bonnies. Cayden Charles posts 11.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Bowen turns in 8.1 points and 4.3 assists per contest.

DEDICATED DUO
Le Moyne's Chris Granozio and Don Familo are in their 34th season calling men's basketball games. They are currently the third-longest tenured Division I radio broadcast duo. They trail only Wichita State's Mike Kennedy and Dave Dahl (46th) and Providence's John Rooke and Joe Hassett (37th). Baylor's John Morris and Pat Nunley (31st) and BYU's Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant (29th) round out the top five.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Le Moyne will travel to Boston College on Sunday, December 28 with tipoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m.