Game #20: Le Moyne (9-10, 4-2 NEC) vs. Wagner (6-11, 1-5 NEC)
Info: Friday, Jan. 23 | 7:00 p.m. | Syracuse, N.Y. | Ted Grant Court
Watch: NEC Front Row
Radio: FOX Sports 92.5 FM/1490 AM
Live Stats: https://lemoynedolphins.com/sidearmstats/mbball/
Wagner links: Schedule | Roster | Stats | News
 
Syracuse, N.Y. — The Le Moyne College men's basketball team remains home to take on the Wagner Seahawks looking for their first three-game win streak of the season.

LAST TIME OUT
The Dolphins won their second game in a row with a victory over NEC-leading LIU at home on Monday, 83-77. Graduate student forward Shilo Jackson led the team with 21 points, shooting a perfect 7-7 from the field, while adding a team-best seven rebounds in all 40 minutes of action. Redshirt junior guard Trent Mosquera contributed 19 points, shooting 4-of-7 on three-point attempts, while adding four rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Sophomore guard Jakai Sanders scored 15 to go along with five assists and four rebounds, while junior guard/forward Tennessee Rainwater and redshirt sophomore Deng Garang each tallied 11 points in the win. 

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
Wagner holds a 3-2 edge over Le Moyne in their all-time series history. The programs first met in the Le Moyne invitational during the 1968-69 season with Wagner taking the victory, 91-81. They did not meet again until Le Moyne joined the NEC in the 2023-24 season, with the teams splitting their two matchups that year. The Dolphins came out with the win in their last meeting, a 72-68 overtime victory at Ted Grant Court last February.  

COMMON OPPONENTS
The Dolphins and Sharks did not play any common opponents during non-conference action, but both have defeated NEC foe, Chicago State, while Le Moyne has defeated Saint Francis and New Haven and lost to Mercyhurst and the Seahawks have lost to all three.

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, 1/21                              Jakai Sanders – 11/17, 12/22
Shilo Jackson – 11/24, 12/1, 12/8, 12/30, 1/6, 1/12, 1/21

NET RANKINGS
Through games on January 21, Le Moyne is 261st in the latest NCAA NET rankings, the highest the Dolphins have been in their three years in Division I and currently third among NEC members, while Wagner is ranked 325th, sixth among NEC members.

DOLPHINS IN THE NEC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Shilo Jackson leads the NEC in field goal percentage (.656) (9th nationally, but Le Moyne student-athletes don't qualify for national rankings during the institution's transition period), offensive rebounding (2.8) (tied for 84th nationally), and double-doubles (8) (tied for 22nd nationally). He is second in rebounding (8.3) (tied for 57th nationally) and made free throws (74), third in blocks (1.68) (tied for 63rd nationally), fourth in defensive rebounding (5.5) (tied for 83rd nationally), seventh in scoring (14.8), ninth in free throw percentage (.725), 18th in assists (2.2) and 20th in minutes (29.7). Trent Mosquera is second in the NEC with a .385 three-point percentage (tied for 74th nationally), third in three-pointers per game (2.6), fifth in defensive rebounding (5.1), sixth in steals (1.6), ninth in minutes (31.5), 10th in rebounding (5.7), scoring (13.8) and blocks (0.8) and 21st in assists (2.0). Deng Garang is 13th in blocks (0.7), 16th in minutes (29.8) and three-pointers (1.5), 19th in steals (1.1) and 22nd in scoring (11.2). Jakai Sanders is tied for second in assists per game (4.0), fourth in made free throws (65) and assist/turnover ratio (1.7), eighth in free throw percentage (.747), 21st in minutes (29.6) and 25th 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 WAGNER
The Seahawks are currently led by interim head coach Dwan McMillan amid head coach Donald Copeland's time away from the program. Wagner has posted a 6-11 record overall, including 1-5 in NEC play, under his direction. McMillan joined the coaching staff in 2024 as an assistant coach following two years serving as recruiting coordinator for Fordham University.
 
The Seahawks returned only two players, including starting forward Zavier Fitch, from its 2024-25 team that went 14-16 overall and 6-10 in NEC play, while adding 10 transfers and one freshman.
 
Wagner went 5-6 in non-conference action, which included an overtime victory at Manhattan and a win over Maryland Eastern Shore, and has opened NEC play 1-5. 
 
Junior guard Nick Jones scored a season-high and team-best 35 points in their overtime victory over Manhattan, 103-101, while adding six assists, six rebounds and two blocks. He is averaging 15 points per game to lead the team, and is the only Seahawk averaging double figures. Fitch had a double-double in the win, scoring 10 points and hauling in 10 rebounds, while blocking three shots in 36 minutes off of the bench. His 6.8 rebounds per game is best on the squad. 
 
Jones and senior guard  and Syracuse native Travis Gray each scored 17 points in the Seahawks conference opening victory over Chicago State, 79-72. Gray shot 4-5 from three-point range in the win, shooting 5-7 from the field overall. He is shooting 40% from three point range this season on 2.9 attempts 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
The Dolphins head to New Jersey to take on the FDU Knights on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.