Game #18: Le Moyne (7-10, 2-2 NEC) vs. Chicago State University (2-15, 0-4 NEC)
Info: Saturday, Jan. 17 | 2:00 p.m. | Chicago, Ill. | Jones Convocation Center
Watch: NEC Front Row
Radio: FOX Sports 92.5 FM/1490 AM
Live Stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=610997
Chicago State University links: Schedule | Roster | Stats | News

Chicago, Ill. — The Le Moyne College men's basketball team travels to Illinois to take on the Chicago State University Cougars.

LAST TIME OUT
The Dolphins fell at home to two-time defending NEC regular season champion Central Connecticut State University on January 10, 69-59.  Graduate student forward Shilo Jackson led the team with 13 points and 10 rebounds (3 offensive), while adding four assists and two blocks.  Redshirt junior guard Trent Mosquera contributed 12 points in the contest, while adding seven rebounds.  Sophomore guard Jakai Sanders tallied 11 points, shooting 4-8 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line.

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
Le Moyne and Chicago State have squared off twice prior, with both contests during the 2024–25 campaign. The Cougars took the first matchup at Jones Convocation Center, 88-72.  The Dolphins bounced back in their next matchup with a home victory over the Cougars, 80-75, tying the series up at 1-1. 

COMMON OPPONENTS
The Dolphins and Cougars only played one common opponent during non-conference action, Bowling Green.  The Dolphins fell to the Falcons on December 6, 83-60, while the Cougars dropped their matchup on December 16, 76-55.

JESUIT CONNECTION
The Dolphins faced 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 lost to Boston College, 72-64, 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, 12/22
Shilo Jackson – 11/24, 12/1, 12/8, 12/30, 1/6, 1/12

NET RANKINGS
Through games on January 15, Le Moyne is 281st in the latest NCAA NET rankings, third among NEC members, while Chicago State University is ranked 347th, ninth among NEC members.

DOLPHINS IN THE NEC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Shilo Jackson leads the NEC in field goal percentage (.639) (16th nationally, but Le Moyne student-athletes don't qualify for national rankings during the institution's transition period), rebounding (8.6) (tied for 45th nationally), offensive rebounding (3.18) (tied for 53rd nationally), made free throws (62) and double-doubles (8) (tied for 16th nationally). He is third in blocks (1.88) (tied for 41st nationally) and defensive rebounding (5.47) (88th nationally), eighth in scoring (14.5), ninth in free throw percentage (.713) and 19th in assists (2.3). Trent Mosquera is second in the NEC with a 38.6 three-point percentage (76th nationally) and is third in three-pointers per game (2.6), tied for fourth in steals (1.6), fifth in defensive rebounding (4.9), 10th in scoring (13.4), 11th in minutes (30.8), 12th in rebounding (5.6), 14th in blocks (0.6) and 21st in assists (2.1). Deng Garang is 12th in blocks (0.7), 13th in minutes (30.6), 14th in steals (1.1), 15th in three-pointers per game (1.5) and 16th in scoring (11.9). Jakai Sanders is second in assists per game (4.2), third in made free throws (60), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.7), seventh in free throw percentage (.759), 18th in minutes (29.6) and 24th in scoring (10.1).

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 of games 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 CHICAGO STATE
The Cougars are led by Landon Bussie, who is in his first season as head coach for the program.  Chicago State is 2-15, including 0-4 in NEC play, under his direction.  Bussie came to Chicago State following a five-year stint as head coach at Alcorn State, where he was a two-time SWAC Coach of the Year. 
 
Chicago State returned four players, including starting forward Dailliss Cox, from its 2024-25 team that went 4-28 overall and 4-12 in NEC play, while bringing in 12 transfers and adding freshman guard Malek Robinson. 
 
The Cougars went 2-11 during non-conference action, with wins over Saint Xavier University and Loyola University Chicago. 
 
Junior guard Doyel Cockrill III scored a season-high 22 points, including 2-5 shooting from three-point range, in the Cougars win over Loyola University Chicago. His 13.2 points per game is second best on the squad, while his 41.4% shooting from three-point range ranks fourth best in the NEC.
 
Senior guard Marcus Tankersley leads the Cougars in scoring at 13.3 points per contest, while grabbing 3.6 rebounds per game. Graduate student guard Braelon Bush scores 9.6 points per game while contributing a team best 2.8 assists per game. Graduate student forward Stephen Byard averages a team best 4.4 rebounds per contest, while adding 8.9 points 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 returns home Monday to take on LIU at 3:00 p.m.