Game #23: Le Moyne (11-11, 6-3 NEC) vs. Stonehill (8-14, 5-4 NEC)
Info: Saturday, Jan. 31 | 1:00 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/
Stonehill links: Schedule | Roster | Stats | News
 
Syracuse, N.Y. — The Le Moyne College men's basketball team returns to Ted Grant Court to take on the Stonehill Skyhawks..
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Dolphins had their four-game win streak snapped with a road loss to NEC-leading LIU on Thursday, 83-61. Junior guard/forward Tennessee Rainwater led the team with 16 points in 33 minutes off of the bench, while adding four rebounds. Sophomore guard Jakai Sanders contributed 14 points, a team-high five assists, three rebounds and a steal in the setback. Redshirt junior guard Trent Mosquera added 10 points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal in 25 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Jakob Blakley contributed eight points while hauling in a team-best six rebounds in the loss. 
 
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 Stonehill are facing off for the 46th time, with their series history dating all the way back to the 1962-63 season. The programs were conference rivals from the 1996-97 season to 2021-22 as members of the NE10, and again since Le Moyne joined the NEC for the 2023-24 season.
The Dolphins hold a 26-19 advantage in the all-time series and are 15-7 when facing Stonehill at home. The Skyhawks took their last matchup in the final game of the 2024-25 regular season, 85-79.
 
COMMON OPPONENTS
The Dolphins and Skyhawks faced two common opponents during non-conference action, Fairfield and Lafayette. Le Moyne fell to Fairfield on Nov 22, 97-83, and defeated Lafayette on Nov 28, 76-63, while Stonehill lost to Fairfield on Nov 14, 73-71, before defeating Lafayette on Nov 21, 74-70.
 
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 four players earn Northeast Conference weekly Prime Performer honors.
Trent Mosquera – 11/10, 12/1, 12/8, 1/21, 1/27                          Jakai Sanders – 11/17, 12/22
Shilo Jackson – 11/24, 12/1, 12/8, 12/30, 1/6, 1/12, 1/21         Tennessee Rainwater – 1/27
 
NET RANKINGS
Through games on January 29, Le Moyne is 261st in the latest NCAA NET rankings, third among NEC members, while Stonehill is ranked 378th, which is ranked eighth 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) (87th nationally), and double-doubles (8) (tied for 27th nationally). He is second in blocks (1.7) (tied for 62nd nationally) and rebounding (8.3) (59th nationally), fourth in defensive rebounding (5.5) (86th nationally) and made free throws (74), sixth in scoring (14.8), ninth in free throw percentage (.725) and 20th in assists (2.2). Trent Mosquera is second in the NEC with a 39.1 three-point percentage (tied for 62nd nationally), third in three-pointers per game (2.7), fifth in defensive rebounding (4.8), sixth in steals (1.5), ninth in scoring (14.4), 10th in minutes (31.8), 11th in blocks (0.8), 12th in rebounding (5.6) and 23rd in assists (2.0). Deng Garang is 13th in blocks (0.7), 18th in three pointers (1.4) and steals (1.0), 21st in minutes (29.3), and 23rd in scoring (10.9). Jakai Sanders is second in assists per game (4.0) and made free throws (80), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.7), eighth in free throw percentage (.734), and 16th in minutes (30.1).
 
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 STONEHILL
The Skyhawks are led by 13th-year head coach Chris Kraus. Stonehill has posted a 165-168 record overall, including 106-106 in conference play, during his time as head of the program. Kraus led the Skyhawks to two berths in the NCAA Division II Tournament, including the Elite Eight in 2016, while Stonehill was a member of the NE10. 
 
Stonehill returned six players, including two starters, from its 2024-25 team that went 15-17 overall and 7-9 in NEC play, while adding eight transfers and two freshmen.
 
Stonehill went 3-10 during non-conference play, and has opened NEC play 5-4, riding a two-game win streak heading into their meeting with Le Moyne.
 
Junior guard Davante Hackett scored a season-high and team-best 23 points in the Skyhawks win over Lafayette, while adding five rebounds and two blocks in 31 minutes off of the bench. Hackett is second on the team in scoring this season at 11.2 points per game. Graduate student forward Raymond Espinal-Guzman and senior guard Chas Stinson each contributed 10 points in the victory.  Stinson added a team-high nine rebounds and recorded two blocks.  Espinal-Guzman and Stinson are tied for the team-high in blocks this season at 1.1 per game. 
 
Hackett scored a team-high 22 points while recording 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season in the Skyhawks overtime win over Chicago State, 85-82.  Junior forward/center Ridvan Tutic scored 15 while adding a team-high and season-high 13 rebounds in the win.  His 8.3 rebounds per game is best on the squad. 
 
Sophomore guard Hermann Koffi had a team-high 21 points in the Skyhawks victory over FDU on Thursday, 58-57.  Koffi shot 8-13 from the field, including 3-5 from three-point range, in the win.  Koffi leads the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game, and leads the NEC in three-point percentage at 40.8% on 6.9 attempts per contest.  Hackett and Stinson each scored 12 points, while Tutic hauled in 10 rebounds and blocked two shots in the victory. 
 
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 travel to Staten Island to take on the Wagner Seahawks on Thursday at 7:00 pm.