Game #27: Le Moyne (13-13, 8-5 NEC) vs. Chicago State (6-20, 4-9 NEC)
Info: Saturday, Feb. 14 | 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/
Chicago State links: Schedule | Roster | Stats | News
 
Syracuse, N.Y. — The Le Moyne College men's basketball team closes out their three-game homestand in a meeting with the Chicago State Cougars. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
Graduate student forward Shilo Jackson scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Dolphins past the Mercyhurst Lakers at home for their second straight win, 58-57. Jackson shot 12-18 from the field while adding eight rebounds and three assists. Redshirt junior guard Trent Mosquera led the team with a career-high tying 10 rebounds while adding five points, three rebounds and three steals. Redshirt sophomore guard Deng Garang recorded nine rebounds, four points and two assists in a game-high 39 minutes. Junior guard/forward Tennessee Rainwater contributed eight points, eight rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes off of the bench, while freshman guard Eli Greenberg had five points, a team-high four assists and three rebounds 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
Le Moyne and Chicago State have squared off three times, with the Dolphins holding a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series history. The programs faced each other twice during the 2024-25 campaign. The Cougars took the first matchup at Jones Convocation Center, 88-72, before the Dolphins bounced back in their next meeting with a home victory over the Cougars, 80-75. Le Moyne earned the victory in their most recent matchup in January of this year, 72-57. 
 
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. In conference play, both teams have defeated NEC foes Saint Francis, Mercyhurst and New Haven, while Le Moyne has defeated Wagner, LIU, FDU and lost to CCSU and Stonehill, and Chicago State has defeated Stonehill and lost to Wagner, LIU, FDU and CCSU. 
 
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 12, Le Moyne is 284th in the latest NCAA NET rankings, third among NEC members, while Chicago State is ranked 342nd, which is ranked ninth among NEC members.
 
DOLPHINS IN THE NEC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Shilo Jackson leads the NEC in field goal percentage (.665) (6th nationally, but Le Moyne student-athletes don't qualify for national rankings during the institution's transition period), offensive rebounding (2.8) (tied for 82nd nationally), and double-doubles (8) (tied for 37th nationally). He is second in rebounding (8.3) (tied for 62nd nationally), third in blocks (1.6) (tied for 63rd nationally) and defensive rebounding (5.5) (83rd nationally), fifth in made free throws (82) and scoring (15.5), tenth in free throw percentage (.707) and 22nd in assists (2.2). Trent Mosquera is third in three-pointers per game (2.4), fifth in defensive rebounding (5.0), seventh in steals (1.5), eighth in scoring (13.9), rebounding (5.8) and blocks (0.8), 10th in minutes (31.8) and 23rd in assists (2.2). Deng Garang is 13th in blocks (0.6), 17th in steals (1.0) and 22nd in three pointers (1.2) and minutes (29.5). Jakai Sanders is second in assists per game (4.4) and assist/turnover ratio (1.9), third in made free throws (94), eighth 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 CHICAGO STATE
The Cougars are led by Landon Bussie, who is in his first season as head coach for the program.  Chicago State is 6-20, including 4-9 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, and are 4-9 in conference action so far. They enter their meeting with the Dolphins on a three-game win streak
 
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 12.0 points per game is third best on the squad, while his 38.3% shooting from three-point range leads the team. 
 
Senior guard Marcus Tankersley scored a team-high and game-high 20 points in their loss to the Dolphins earlier this year, while adding three assists and two rebounds. Graduate student guard Braelon Bush recorded a season-high 10 assists to lead the team, while adding seven points and seven rebounds. He leads the team with 3.0 assists per game. 
 
Senior forward CJ Ray scored a team-high 18 points in the Cougars win over Stonehill on Thursday, 68-55. He leads the team in scoring at 13.7 points per game. Tankersley had a team-high six assists while adding seven points and four rebounds, while Bush contributed 11 points on 4-4 shooting from the field. 
 
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 Connecticut to take on the Central Connecticut Blue Devils on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.