Game #26: Le Moyne (12-13, 7-5 NEC) vs. Mercyhurst (12-13, 7-5 NEC)
Info: Thursday, Feb. 12 | 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/summary
Mercyhurst links: Schedule | Roster | Stats | News
 
Syracuse, N.Y. — The Le Moyne College men's basketball team continues its three-game homestand in a meeting with the Mercyhurst Lakers. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
Redshirt sophomore guard Deng Garang scored a go-ahead layup in the final seconds to give Le Moyne a win over Saint Francis and ending their three-game skid, 86-84. Garang contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and a team-high four steals in the victory. Sophomore guard Jakai Sanders led the team with 20 points and nine assists, while adding five rebounds. Junior guard/forward Tennessee Rainwater  had 14 points and two rebounds in 33 minutes off of the bench. Graduate student forward Shilo Jackson had 16 points, a team-high nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks in his return following a five-game absence, and redshirt junior guard Trent Mosquera contributed seven points, four rebounds and two steals in the victory. 
 
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 Lakers are meeting for the 23rd time in their series history, with Le Moyne holding a 18-4 advantage.  Le Moyne won 16 of the 17 games played between 1984 and 1994, including each of the last 15, while the teams split matchups in 2019 and 2021. The programs faced each twice when Mercyhurst joined Le Moyne in the NEC last season, with each team winning their home matchups. The Lakers took the win in their most recent meeting on January 4 of this season, 74-60, in Erie.
 
COMMON OPPONENTS
Le Moyne and Mercyhurst each faced Lafayette College and Binghamton University during non-conference action. The Dolphins defeated the Leopards, 76-63, on November 28 and Binghamton, 78-63, on December 6, while Mercyhurst fell to Lafayette, 79-71, on December 5 and defeated Binghamton, 82-61, on December 20. In conference play, both teams have defeated NEC foes Saint Francis, New Haven, Chicago State and Wagner, while Le Moyne has defeated LIU and FDU and lost to CCSU and Stonehill, and Mercyhurst has defeated CCSU and lost to LIU, FDU and Stonehill. 
 
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, 2/9
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 February 10, Le Moyne is 283rd in the latest NCAA NET rankings, third among NEC members, while Mercyhurst is ranked 288th, which is ranked fourth among NEC members.
 
DOLPHINS IN THE NEC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Shilo Jackson leads the NEC in field goal percentage (.665) (tied for 7th nationally, but Le Moyne student-athletes don't qualify for national rankings during the institution's transition period), offensive rebounding (2.8) (tied for 91st nationally), and double-doubles (8) (tied for 36th nationally). He is third in blocks (1.7) (55th nationally), rebounding (8.4) (61st nationally), and defensive rebounding (5.6) (tied for 75th nationally), fifth in made free throws (78), seventh in scoring (14.9), eighth in free throw percentage (.722) and 22nd in assists (2.2). Trent Mosquera is third in three-pointers per game (2.5), fifth in defensive rebounding (4.9), seventh in steals (1.5), eighth in scoring (14.3) and blocks (0.8), 10th in minutes (31.8) and rebounding (5.6), and 23rd in assists (2.1). Deng Garang is 13th in blocks (0.6), 18th in steals (1.0), 22nd in three pointers (1.3) and 24th in minutes (29.1). Jakai Sanders is second in assists per game (4.4), third in made free throws (94) and assist/turnover ratio (1.9), seventh in free throw percentage (.740) and 17th in minutes (30.6).
 
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 MERCYHURST
The Lakers are led by 23rd-year head coach Gary Manchel. Mercyhurst is 400-248, including 247-165 in conference action, under his direction. He guided the Lakers to the NCAA Division II Tournament seven times, including winning the Atlantic Regional in 2019. 
 
Mercyhurst returned eight players, all of which played at least 14 games, including seven who played in at least 23, from its 2024-25 team that went 15-16 overall in its first season of Division I competition, including 9-7 in NEC play to finish third in the conference standings, while adding three freshmen and four transfers.
 
The Lakers went 5-8 during non-conference play, which included wins over Loyola-Chicago and Binghamton, and are 7-5 in conference action so far.
 
Graduate student guard Bernie Blunt III scored a game-high 23 points, including 10-10 from the free throw line, while adding four rebounds and three assists in the Lakers win over Wagner earlier this season, 70-69. Blunt III leads the team in scoring this season at 16.5 point per game. Sophomore forward Qadir Martin recorded 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, and a team-high and season-high six blocks in 30 minutes off of the bench. He leads the NEC with 2.5 blocks per game, and leads the Lakers in rebounding at 6.4 per game.   
 
Blunt III scored a team-high 18 points in their win over the Dolphins earlier this year, while adding two assists. Sophomore guard Jake Lemelman added 15 points while shooting 2-5 from three-point range. His 38.5% mark from three-point range this season is best on the team. Martin added nine points, seven rebounds and a team-high five blocks in the victory. 
 
Martin contributed 20 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season in the Lakers home win over Saint Francis on February 5, 98-89. Blunt III scored a team-high 26 points while Lemelman added 21 points of his own. Sophomore guard Deshaun Jackson Jr. contributed 10 points, a team-high eight assists and five rebounds in 34 minutes off of the bench. 
 
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 finishes its three-game homestand against Chicago State on Saturday at 1:00 pm.