Box score

HAYWARD, Calif. - A season-best crowd of 1,007 in Pioneer Gym saw Cal State East Bay drop a tough decision to Cal Poly Pomona 69-60 on January 20.

The Broncos held a 13-7 lead with 11:01 left in the first half. Cal Poly Pomona extended its advantage to 23-15 at the 4:58 mark on a three-pointer by Mark Rutledge.

East Bay cut the margin to 28-26 on a three-pointer by Will Freedman with 2:04 left. The Pioneers tied the game, 28-28 on a Mark Samuel's layup with 58 seconds remaining.

Trailing 30-28, the Pioneers tied the game with five seconds left in the half on a pair of free throws by Jared Waters.

The Pioneers took a 33-30 lead early in the second half on Freedman's third three pointer of the game.
Cal Poly Pomona went on a 5-0 run to regain the lead, 38-33 with 17:29 left. The Pioneers came within a basket 38-36 on Freedman's fourth three pointer of the game.

Kevin Menner's layup gave the Broncos a 49-39 lead at the 13:24 mark. The Broncos enjoyed their biggest lead of the game 57-43 with 9:12 remaining.

East Bay cut Cal Poly's margin to 59-55 with 3:53 left in the contest on Samuel's layup. A pair of free throws by Rutledge in the final 30 seconds secured the victory for Cal Poly Pomona.

“We had a good game plan to deal with Cal Poly's zone in the first half and early in the second half,” Will Freedman said. Cal Poly is a tough team and you can't give them any breathing room.”

Freedman led the Pioneers in scoring with 15 points on five 3-pointers. Samuels followed with 13 points while Roshun Wynne had 11 all in the second half.

Menner led six Bronco scorers in double figures with 14 points on 5-of-6 from the field. Mark Rosser followed with 12 points.

Cal Poly Pomona, which won its fourth straight CCAA game, is 5-5 in conference and 8-6 overall. Cal State East Bay stands at 0-11 in CCAA play and 2-13 for the season.

Despite the defeat, Freedman sees better days ahead for the Pioneers.

“We're growing as a team,” Freedman said. “The improvement we have shown against some strong CCAA teams the past two weeks, will result in some conference wins in the near future.”

The Pioneers will host Cal State San Bernardino on January 22 at 7:30 p.m.