Box Score SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team earned a big road victory in its CCAA opener Friday night, defeating San Francisco State 80-76. For the Pioneers (2-2, 1-0 CCAA), it snaps a six-game losing streak to the Gators, and it's the second straight season that East Bay has started conference play 1-0.
This game was a tight, back-and-forth contest from start to finish. At one point the Gators (2-3, 0-1 CCAA) looked like they might start to pull away, but the Pioneers went on a huge scoring run late in the second half to retake the lead for good. East Bay out-shot SF State 49.1 to 47.4 percent from the field and 41.7 to 38.9 percent from long distance. It was the best shooting night of the year for the Pioneers in terms of percentage, and they also knocked down a season-high 10 three-pointers. Perhaps even more importantly, East Bay out-rebounded the Gators 34 to 31.
Sophomore guard
Jacari Whitfield played a big role in the team's shooting success. The reigning CCAA Freshman of the Year took eight shots – all of them three-pointers – and made five of them on his way to a team-high 15 points. He also made arguably the biggest shot of the night, a dagger three with 59 seconds left that gave the Pioneers a 79-73 lead.
Gabe Kindred was relatively quiet in the early going, but he made some huge plays for East Bay down the stretch, scoring 10 of his 13 points after halftime. The junior guard was tops on the Pioneers with four assists, and he grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
Jurrell Turner added 11 points and
Ota Okungbowa scored 10, making it four Pioneers in double figures.
Down low for East Bay,
Nick Marshall posted seven points and five boards, and
Ryan Hebebrand added six and four.
Vincent Capellino and
Donavon Jackson also turned in six points apiece, all in the first half.
It was a one-possession game for much of the opening half. The Pioneers clung to a five-point lead, but the Gators made a late 10-2 run to take a 46-43 lead into the break. They continued to extend their advantage coming out of halftime, and at one point led by as many as nine.
The Pioneers showed great resolve on this night, however, and they overcame a hostile crowd and a poor performance at the free throw line (58.1 percent on 18-of-31) to erase that deficit. Trailing 65-56 midway through the second half, East Bay went on a 13-0 scoring run to take the lead. SF State came back to tie it at 71-71, but a couple layups from Kindred and Whitfield's big three-pointer with less than a minute left gave the Pioneers a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Decensae White led all scorers with 16 points for the Gators, although 14 of those came in the first half. Winston Demmin added 12 points and a team-high five rebounds in just 16 minutes, missing time due to foul trouble. Calvin Otiano (12 points) and Robbie Herndon (10 points) also scored in double digits for SF State, who will host Cal State Monterey Bay tomorrow night.
The Pioneers are also back in action tomorrow night when they head up to Sonoma for an early-season date with the Seawolves. East Bay will look to match last season's 2-0 start to conference play. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from Rohnert Park.
