Game #31: Le Moyne (15-15, 10-7 NEC) vs. New Haven (13-17, 8-9 NEC)
Info: Saturday, Feb. 28 | 1:00 p.m. | West Haven, Conn. | The Hazel Center
Watch: NEC Front Row
Radio: FOX Sports 92.5 FM/1490 AM
Live Stats: https://newhavenchargers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary 
New Haven Links: Schedule | Roster | Stats | News
 
West Haven, Conn. — The Le Moyne College men's basketball team completes its regular season in a meeting with the New Haven Chargers for the sixth time in the last 10 seasons.

WHAT'S AT STAKE
The Dolphins will secure the third seed in next week's NEC Championship with a win over the Chargers or a loss by Mercyhurst at Stonehill. The Dolphins will be the fourth seed if they lose and Mercyhurst defeats Stonehill.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Dolphins got back in the win column with a victory over FDU in their final home game of the regular season, 76-59, on Thursday. Redshirt junior guard Trent Mosquera led the team with 17 points and three rebounds in 24 minutes off of the bench. Graduate student forward Shilo Jackson and junior guard/forward Tennessee Rainwater each tallied 16 points. Rainwater added eight rebounds and two steals, while Jackson had three rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block. Redshirt sophomore guard Deng Garang hauled in a career-high and game-high 13 rebounds, and added eight points, while sophomore guard Jakai Sanders scored 13 points and recorded a team-high five assists in 30 minutes off of the bench.
 
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 Chargers are meeting on the hardwood for the 46th time dating back to their respective Division II eras, with the Dolphins holding a 27-18 series advantage. Le Moyne won 18 of the 30 games played between the programs while they were members of the NE10 from 2008-23. The Dolphins earned the victory in their most recent matchup in January of this year, 73-47. The teams closed out the regular season against each other in the NE10 in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2023.
 
COMMON OPPONENTS
The Dolphins and Chargers only played one common opponent during non-conference action, Boston College. The Dolphins fell to the Eagles on December 28, 72-64, while New Haven dropped a December 6 matchup, 67-63.
 
In conference play, both teams have defeated NEC foes Saint Francis, Mercyhurst, Chicago State, LIU, Wagner, and FDU, while Le Moyne has lost to CCSU and Stonehill, while New Haven has defeated Stonehill and lost to 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 five 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, 2/16        Tennessee Rainwater – 1/27
Deng Garang – 2/23
 
NET RANKINGS
Through games on February 26, Le Moyne is 283rd in the latest NCAA NET rankings, fourth among NEC members, while New Haven is ranked 328th, which is ranked sixth among NEC members.
 
DOLPHINS IN THE NEC STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Shilo Jackson leads the NEC in offensive rebounding (2.6) and is tied for first in double-doubles (8) (tied for 50th nationally, but Le Moyne student-athletes don't qualify for national rankings during the institution's transition period). He is second in field goal percentage (.639) (tied for 14th nationally), rebounding (7.9) (81st nationally), third in blocks (1.6) (69th nationally), and defensive rebounding (5.4) (98th nationally),  fifth in scoring (15.5), tied for fifth in made free throws (94), 10th in free throw percentage (.718) and 23rd in assists (2.2). Trent Mosquera leads the NEC in three-point percentage (.376) (76th nationally), second in three-pointers per game (2.5), sixth in defensive rebounding (4.9), and steals (1.5), ninth in rebounding (5.6), scoring (14.1), and minutes (31.8), 10th in blocks (0.7) and 20th in assists (2.3). Deng Garang is 13th in blocks (0.6), 15th in steals (1.1), 17th in three pointers (1.4), 19th in minutes (30.0) and 24th in scoring (11.1). Jakai Sanders is second in assists per game (4.3), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.8), tied for fifth in made free throws (94), seventh in free throw percentage (.740) and 21st in minutes (29.9).
 
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 NEW HAVEN
The Chargers are led by 16th-year head coach Ted Hotaling, who has posted a 231-201 record during his time in West Haven. He has guided the Chargers to five berths in the NCAA Division II Tournament, including the Elite Eight in 2023.
 
New Haven returned three players, only one of whom averaged more than seven minutes a game (Najimi George), from its 2024-25 team that went 12-17 overall in its final season of Division II competition, including 7-14 in NE10 play, while adding 11 freshmen and seven transfers.
 
The Chargers went 5-8 during non-conference play, and have put together an 8-9 record in NEC play.

Sophomore guard Najimi George scored a team-high 14 points to lead the Chargers in their NEC-opening win over Stonehill, 70-55. George is second on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game. Junior forward Stefano Faloppa recorded 11 points, five rebounds and two assists, while senior guard Kheni Briggs added 10 points. 
 
Sophomore forward and Syracuse-native Andre Pasha led the Chargers with 10 points in their loss to Le Moyne earlier this season, 73-47. He is third on the team in scoring at 10.6 points per game, and leads the team with 5.1 rebounds per game. Junior guard Jabri Fitzpatrick added a team-high eight rebounds, six points, three assists and a steal. He leads the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game, and his 1.7 steals per game also leads the team.
 
Fitzpatrick had a team-high 21 points in their loss to Wagner on Thursday, 65-62. Pasha added 15 points, six rebounds and a team-high three blocks. George recorded 10 points, four rebounds and two steals, while senior guard Kyle Kearson tallied a team-high seven rebounds in 16 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 will host its opening round matchup of the NEC tournament on Wednesday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m.