Syracuse, N.Y. – Redshirt junior guard Trent Mosquera (Boston, Mass./Belmont Hill School) tallied 17 points to lead the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to a 76-59 victory over FDU on Thursday night in NEC action at Ted Grant Court.

With the victory, the Dolphins clinch a home game in the first round of next week's NEC Championship. The Dolphins moved into third place in the standings with the win and Mercyhurst's loss to Central Connecticut State. They can lock up the third seed with a win at New Haven on Saturday or a loss by Mercyhurst at Stonehill on Saturday. The first round of the NEC Championship will take place on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

Mosquera, who came off the bench for the first time this season, registered 15 of his game-high point total in the second half on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range. Junior swingman Tennessee Rainwater (Davenport, Wash./Davenport/Utah Tech) turned in 16 points, including 13 in the first half, eight rebounds and two steals, while graduate student forward Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central/Vincennes/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) also recorded 16 points and two steals. Sophomore guard Jakai Sanders (Brooklyn, N.Y./Eagle Academy) posted 13 points and five assists. Redshirt sophomore guard Deng Garang (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Grimes) pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds to go with eight points.

Taeshaud Jackson led the Knights with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Eric Parnell was the only other play in double figures with 12 points.

The teams went back and forth over the opening 12 and one-half minutes with the lead changing sides four times and neither team able to take more than a four-point lead.

After Cyril Martynov got the Knights within 22-21 with 7:50 left in the half, the Dolphins scored seven of the next nine points for a six-point lead. Rainwater made a lay-up, redshirt sophomore forward Trevor Roe (Syracuse, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius/Radford) made two foul shots and then Sanders hit his second three-pointer of the game.

The Knights countered with seven straight points to take the lead back. Taeshaud Jackson made two free throws, Noah Melson made two more and then Melson drained a three-pointer for a 30-29 lead with 4:07 to go.

Le Moyne responded with a 7-0 run of its own for another six-point advantage. Shilo Jackson registered a fast-break dunk, Garang made two free throws and then Sanders buried another three-pointer.

Ras Elijah Godbolt connected on a three-pointer with 18 seconds left to get the Knights within 36-33 at halftime.

FDU tallied eight of the first 10 points of the second half to regain the lead. Parnell and Joey Niesman drilled three-pointers around a Shilo Jackson lay-up for the lead and then Niesman made a lay-up with 18:13 left.

Le Moyne answered back with eight of the next nine points to take the lead for good. Mosquera and Shilo Jackson made lay-ups for a one-point lead. After Parnell knotted the score for the final time at 42, Mosquera made two free throws and Garang had a tip-in with 12:56 left for a 46-42 lead.

Following back-and-forth action over the next two minutes and Shilo Jackson picking up his fourth foul, Parnell and Taeshaud Jackson made lay-ups to get the Knights within one for the final time with 8:42 remaining.

The Dolphins then ran off 16 straight points to take control of the game. Mosquera had a conventional three-point play and then drained a three-pointer five seconds later to force an FDU timeout after Garang stole the in-bounds pass. After a turnover out of the timeout, Sanders and Garang scored in the paint for a double-digit lead. Roe followed with two free throws, Garang had a fast-break dunk and then Sanders converted a lay-up for a 68-51 lead.

After the teams split the next 10 points, Rainwater had a conventional three-point play with 3:07 left to put the Dolphins up by 20 for the first time.

The Knights made three free throws over two trips to the line to close out the game's scoring.

Le Moyne (15-15, 10-7 NEC), which has 10 conference wins for the first time in its three years in the NEC, closes out the regular season on Saturday at New Haven at 1:00 p.m.