Game #10: Le Moyne (4-5) vs. Binghamton (3-6) 
Info: Saturday, Dec. 6 | 4:00 p.m. | Vestal, N.Y. | Dr. Bai Lee Court
Watch: ESPN+ / SNY
Radio: FOX Sports 92.5 FM/1490 AM
Live Stats: https://binghamtonbearcats.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Binghamton Links: Schedule | Roster | News

Vestal, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College men's basketball team will travel down I-81 to renew the "Battle for the Interstate" with Binghamton University on Saturday at approximately 4:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The Dolphins won two of three games at The Lafayette Classic. After wins over Lafayette (76-63) and Monmouth (83-79), the Dolphins fell to Ball State on Sunday, 96-85. Redshirt junior guard Trent Mosquera led five Dolphins in double figures with a career-best 26 points, 20 of which came in the second half, while adding five rebounds and three assists. He drilled a career high-tying six three-pointers for the second time this season (Xavier). Redshirt sophomore guard Deng Garang recorded 13 of his 15 points in the first half, while adding three steals. Graduate student forward Shilo Jackson and junior guard Samuel Hincapie each registered 12 points, while Jackson had 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double and fifth of the season. Sophomore guard Jakai Sanders turned in 10 points and four assists.

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 Bearcats are meeting on the hardwood for the eighth time. Binghamton holds a 4-3 lead in the all-time series after winning the last two years. Binghamton has won two of the three games hosted by the Bearcats with the Dolphins winning in 1998-99 (81-71) and Binghamton claiming the contests in 1999-2000 (78-69) and 2023-24 (91-79).

COMMON OPPONENTS
The Dolphins and Bearcats have three common opponents this year, Niagara University, Central Connecticut State University and Mercyhurst. The Dolphins defeated Niagara at home on November 17, 74-68, and will play home-and-homes with Central Connecticut State (January 10 in Syracuse and February 19 in New Britain) and Mercyhurst (January 4 in Erie, February 12 in Syracuse). Binghamton fell to Niagara on November 8, 67-59, hosts Central Connecticut State on December 13 and visits Mercyhurst on December 20.

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
Jakai Sanders – 11/17
Shilo Jackson – 11/24, 12/1

DOLPHINS IN THE NEC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Shilo Jackson leads the NEC with a 71.0 field goal percentage, a mark that is sixth 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 (9.2) (34th nationally) and blocks (2.44) (tied for 16th nationally) and is seventh in free throw percentage (.821), eighth in scoring (14.6) and 17th in assists (2.0). Trent Mosquera leads the NEC in three-point percentage (.443) and is second in three-pointers per game (3.0), fifth in steals (1.6) and minutes (31.9), 10th in scoring (14.4), 13th in assists (2.3) and 14th in rebounding (5.4). His 27 three-pointers are tied for 36th nationally. Deng Garang is sixth in minutes (31.8), 12th in steals (1.3) and 13th in scoring (12.7) and three-pointers per game (1.6). Jakai Sanders is second in assists (4.6), third in free throw percentage (.837) and assist/turnover ratio (1.6), fourth in minutes (32.4) and 17th in scoring (11.4).

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 BINGHAMTON
The Bearcats are led by fifth-year head coach Levell Sanders. Binghamton is 58-73, including 30-36 in America East Conference play, under his direction. Sanders was named the head coach in March 2021 after two seasons as an assistant coach.
 
Binghamton returned five players, including three who started at least nine games, from its 2024-25 team that went 15-17 overall and 7-9 in America East play, while adding two freshmen and seven transfers.

Binghamton is off to a 3-6 start to the season. The Bearcats are coming off an 80-71 overtime win over Lehigh on Tuesday, their first over a Division I program. Junior forward Zyier Beverly scored 20 of his game-high 25 points after halftime and Binghamton outscored Lehigh 13-4 in overtime. The Bearcats put four (of their six players) in double figures. Junior point guard Jeremiah Quigley tallied a career-high 22 points, five rebounds and four assists and played the entire 45 minutes. He forced overtime with a free throw make with four seconds left in regulation. Senior center Demetrius Lilley notched his league-leading sixth double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Lilley leads the Bearcats in scoring (16.5 ppg.) and rebounding (10.3). Quigley (13.9 ppg., 6.0 apg.) and Beverly (11.9 ppg.) are the team's other double-digit scorers on the season.   
 
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 Austin, Texas to take on the University of Texas on Tuesday, Dec. 16 with tipoff scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. CT

COLLEGE FACTS
Le Moyne College was founded in 1946

President is Linda LeMura, who in 2014 became the first female layperson to be named the president of a Jesuit institution of higher education in the United States. In December, she will become the longest-tenured president in Le Moyne's history.

Athletic Director is Phil Brown, who was hired on October 29, 2024 and started on January 1, 2025 after serving as the Executive Associate Athletic Director and Chief Business Officer at Vanderbilt University.

Notable alumni are Josiah Gray (current Washington Nationals pitcher), Tim DeKay (actor), Jim Deshaies (retired MLB pitcher and current Chicago Cubs TV broadcast color commentator), Jeanette Epps (NASA astronaut, just returned from the International Space Station within the last two weeks), Siobhan Fallon Hogan (actress), Rob Manfred (current MLB Commissioner), Neil Olshey (former GM of Portland Trail Blazers and LA Clippers), John Zogby (creator of the Zogby Poll).