Game #13: Le Moyne (5-7) vs. Boston College (6-6) 
Info: Sunday, Dec. 28 | 2:00 p.m. | Chestnut Hill, Mass. | Conte Forum
Watch: ACC Network Extra
Radio: FOX Sports 92.5 FM/1490 AM
Live Stats: https://bceagles.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Boston College Links: Schedule | Roster | News

Chestnut Hill, Mass. – The Le Moyne College men's basketball team plays its final non-conference game of the season on Sunday at Boston College.

LAST TIME OUT
The Dolphins are coming off a 92-81 setback at St. Bonaventure University on December 20. Graduate student forward Shilo Jackson led all scorers with a career-best 25 points, 15 of which came in the second half, while grabbing six rebounds and blocking three shots. Redshirt sophomore guard Deng Garang tied his career highs of 20 points (including 15 in the first half) and eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Jakai Sanders recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and a single-game program-record 16 assists. The previous record of 15 assists was set by Rob Thorpe '04 on November 22, 2002 in a 98-86 victory against Alderson-Broaddus. Sanders' assist total is the highest by an NEC player since Sacred Heart's Cameron Parker had 24 against now-defunct Pine Manor College on December 1, 2019 and are the most assists by an NEC player against a Division I opponent since Parker had 16 against Quinnipiac on November 24, 2019.

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 Eagles are meeting on the hardwood for the 19th time. Boston College holds a 13-5 advantage in the series. The teams played yearly between 1951 and 1956 with the Dolphins winning four of those five matchups. After not playing for 11 years, they resumed a yearly series between 1967 and 1980 with the Eagles claiming 12 of the 13 matchups. In all, Le Moyne is 3-6 in Syracuse, 2-0 at neutral sites and 0-7 on the road against Boston College.

COMMON OPPONENTS
The Dolphins and Eagles have four common opponents this year, Central Connecticut State University, University of New Haven, UMass and FDU. The Dolphins fell at UMass, 94-80, on November 13, will host New Haven on January 8 and visit the Chargers on February 28, will host Central Connecticut State on January 10 and visit the Blue Devils on February 19 and will visit FDU on January 25 and host the Knights on February 26. Boston College lost to Central Connecticut State, 60-59, on November 11 and UMass, 76-74, on December 10 and defeated New Haven, 67-63, on December 6 and FDU, 72-61, on December 22.

JESUIT CONNECTION
Le Moyne and Boston College are two of 27 Jesuit institutions in the United States. The Dolphins have already taken on two other Jesuit institutions this season. They fell at Xavier University on November 6, 74-69, and fell at home to Fairfield University on November 22, 97-83.

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, 12/22
Shilo Jackson – 11/24, 12/1, 12/8

NET RANKINGS
Through games on December 23, Le Moyne is 297th in the latest NCAA NET rankings, fourth among NEC members, while Boston College is ranked 191st, 18th among ACC members.

DOLPHINS IN THE NEC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Shilo Jackson leads the NEC with a 64.3 field goal percentage, a mark that is tied for 17th 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 (8.4) (tied for 57th nationally), offensive rebounding (2.92) (tied for 83rd nationally), blocks (2.25) (tied for 23rd nationally) and double-doubles (6) (tied for 13th nationally) and is second in defensive rebounding (5.5), third in free throw percentage (.800) and eighth in scoring (14.6). Trent Mosquera leads the NEC with a 42.7 three-point percentage (tied for 46th nationally), and is second in three-pointers per game (2.92) (tied for 62nd nationally), fifth in steals (1.8), eighth in defensive rebounding (4.8), ninth in scoring (14.5), 11th in minutes (31.2), 13th in assists (2.4) and 15th in rebounding (5.3). Deng Garang is fourth in minutes (32.4), sixth in field goal percentage (.462), 11th in steals (1.3) and 13th in scoring (13.0) and three-pointers per game (1.7). Jakai Sanders is second in assists (4.9), third in assist/turnover ratio (2.0), sixth in free throw percentage (.767), 10th in minutes (31.3) and 18th 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 BOSTON COLLEGE
The Eagles are led by fifth-year head coach Earl Grant. In 12 overall seasons as a head coach at Boston College and College of Charleston, Grant has posted a 194-167 record, including 67-78 at Boston College. He guided College of Charleston to the 2018 NCAA Tournament after winning the CAA Tournament and the 2017 NIT and Boston College to the 2024 NIT Second Round.

Boston College returned eight players, only one of whom started double-digit games last year (Donald Hand Jr.), from its 2024-25 team that went 12-19 overall and 4-16 in ACC play, while adding four freshmen and four transfers.

The Eagles are off to a 6-6 start to the season. In their most recent game, the Eagles overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat FDU, 72-61, on Monday. Luka Toews led five Eagles in double figures with 21 points and three assists, while Hand Jr. provided 13 points. Aidan Shaw led the way with 11 rebounds.

Hand Jr. leads the Eagles in scoring (14.9) and is second on the team in rebounding (5.5). Fred Payne averages 12.5 points as the only other Eagle in double figures to go with 2.9 assists. Shaw pulls down 7.8 rebounds per game.

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 open NEC action at Saint Francis University on Friday with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.