Box score

HAYWARD, Calif. – The Pioneer men's basketball team played hard for 40 minutes, but fell short to San Francisco State, 82-72, before a homecoming crowd of 1003 in Pioneer Gym.

A jumper by Brandon Hrboka gave the Pioneers a 14-13 lead with 12:31 left in the first half. East Bay maintained a 17-15 advantage at 11:36 mark.

San Francisco State went on an 8-0 run to take a 23-17 lead with 9:36 remaining. The Gators led by as many as 12 points and held a 39-30 advantage at halftime.

Marquel Hoskins' layup increased the Gators lead to 48-35 with 17:44 left in the game. The Pioneers cut the Gators' margin to 51-47 with 13:13 remaining on a basket by Donovan Jackson. San Francisco State outscored East Bay 31-25 the remainder of the way to secure the victory.

“I give my kids a lot of credit for competing hard all season,” Pioneer coach Will Biggs said. “We played a much better game than the other night against Cal State Monterey Bay in front of a great homecoming crowd. After Will Freedman went down with an injury in the first half, everybody on the team rallied and played a good game.”

The Pioneers were led in scoring by Mark Samuels with 19 points and Roshun Wynne with 18. Donavon Jackson scored 15 points while Jared Waters had 10 and completed a double-double with 12 rebounds.

San Francisco State, which shot 54.9 percent from the field, was led in scoring by Hoskins with 21 points. Winston Demmin and Tim Pratt scored 14 and 13 points respectively for the victorious Gators.

The Gators improve to 11-5 in CCAA play and 13-7 overall. Cal State East Bay stands at 1-15 in the CCAA and 3-17 for the season.

Cal State East Bay will host Chico State on February 10.