Syracuse, N.Y. – Graduate student forward Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central/Vincennes/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to a 58-57 victory over Mercyhurst University on Thursday evening at Ted Grant Court.

Jackson recorded 15 of his game-high point total in the second half, while finishing the game 12-of-18 from the field, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out three assists. His 12 made field goals are the most by a Dolphin since Luke Sutherland '22 M '23 recorded 12 at Sacred Heart on February 3, 2024. Redshirt junior guard Trent Mosquera (Boston, Mass./Belmont Hill School) led all players in the game with a career high-tying 10 rebounds, while adding five points, three steals and three assists.

Bernie Blunt III led three Lakers in double figures with 14 points, while adding five rebounds and four steals. Jake Lemelman turned in 12 points, five rebounds and three steals. Mykolaus Ivanauskas posted 11 points and a pair of steals.

After the Lakers scored the first five points of the game, Jackson scored nine of the next 11 points to give the Dolphins their first lead of the night.

Following three and one-half minutes of scoreless action, the Lakers scored five straight points, capped by a Blunt three-pointer, to take the lead back.

Jackson put the Dolphins back in front, 16-15, with four points in 29 seconds, but Mercyhurst scored the next 10 points to take its largest lead of the game. Ivanauskas scored the final five points for a 25-16 lead with 4:14 left in the half.

Le Moyne closed out the half with nine of the last 13 points to get within 29-25 at halftime. Four different Dolphins scored in the stretch, led by a three-pointer from sophomore guard Jakob Blakley (Elgin, Ill./Walter Payton Preparatory).

The Dolphins scored nine of the first 11 points of the second half to take the lead back. Mosquera made a three-pointer, Blakley had conventional three-point play and Jackson followed with three points over two possessions.

After the Lakers posted the next four points to take a 35-34 lead with 15:40 left, Le Moyne rattled off 12 straight points to take the largest lead of the game. Redshirt sophomore guard Deng Garang (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Grimes) made a lay-up, Jackson followed with eight straight points, which included two conventional three-point plays, and then junior swingman Tennessee Rainwater (Davenport, Wash./Davenport/Utah Tech) capped the streak with a lay-up off a feed from Jackson for a 46-35 lead with 11:20 remaining.

The Lakers scored seven of the next nine points to pull within 48-42 with 8:13 left. The seven points came from four different players.

The Dolphins pushed their lead back to double digits, 54-44, with 5:07 remaining on a lay-up by freshman guard Eli Greenberg (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville), but Blunt III scored seven straight points over the next three possessions to get the Lakers within 54-51 with 3:12 to play.

Rainwater snapped the run with two free throws, but Lemelman and Sean Lang buried consecutive three-pointers around a lay-up by Mosquera to make it a 58-57 game with 1:41 remaining.

Each team missed a three-pointer on its next possession and then the Dolphins turned the ball over with 12 seconds to go. After the Lakers called timeout with seven seconds left, Lemelman was able to get off a lay-up with just over one second left, but it did not go in and Garang corralled the rebound and drew a foul. After missing the first attempt, he intentionally missed the second and the Lakers were unable to get off a desperation shot.

Le Moyne (13-13, 8-5 NEC), which moved into a two-way tie for second in the NEC standings with Central Connecticut State, wraps up its three-game homestand on Saturday against Chicago State University at 1:00 p.m. Prior to the contest, the team's fourth and fifth-year players (Jackson, Mosquera, Ametri Moss, Sam Donnelly, Kaelin Thomas and Nate Fouts) will be honored by the Dolphin Athletic Association for their contributions to the program.