Saturday, Dec. 15
@ Dominican University (4-3, 2-0 PacWest)
“The Igloo”
7:00 p.m.
Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video

HAYWARD, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team will visit Dominican University this weekend in its final non-conference game of the year. This will be the first of four straight road games over the course of the next four weeks for the Pioneers (3-3, 2-1 CCAA). Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday from “The Igloo” in San Rafael.

WEEKEND RECAP
East Bay played just one game last week, defeating Cal State Monterey Bay 85-82 in the team's CCAA home opener. The Pioneers led virtually the entire game and took an 11-point lead into halftime after Tre Mauldin's half-court shot found nylon at the buzzer. East Bay extended its advantage and led by more than 20 for much of the second half, allowing coach Will Biggs to utilize his whole roster. With about five minutes to go in the game, the previously cold Otters finally started to hit everything, while the Pioneers committed a few sloppy turnovers. CSUMB made a big run at the very end, but they ultimately ran out of time, and the final score was as close as it got.

It was one of the best offensive nights of the season for the Pioneers, who shot 44 percent from three-point range and 72.7 percent from the free throw line. Mauldin led the way with 15 points, three assists, and three steals. Jason Smith and Gabe Kindred also finished in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Jacari Whitfield added nine points and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds.

ANOTHER NIGHT, ANOTHER NAILBITER
Although the Pioneers had a big lead for most of Saturday's game, their winning margin was just three points. The tight score is something that has become notably common for this year's East Bay squad. In five games against DII opponents, the largest margin of victory on either side was four points. During that span, East Bay has scored 375 total points and allowed 370, for an average game score of 75-74. It doesn't get much closer than that.

EARLY LEADERS
Several Pioneers are showing up on the CCAA leaderboards in this young season. Kindred, who leads the Pioneers in scoring and assists, ranks 10th in the conference with 13.3 ppg and fifth with 3.2 apg. Nick Marshall sits 10th in the CCAA in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and fourth in blocks (1.5 bpg). Jurrell Turner is East Bay's second-leading scorer, and he ranks in the conference's top-20 in scoring average (11.2 ppg) and field goal percentage (48.8 percent). Finally, file this under small sample sizes: After hitting 3-of-4 on Saturday, Vincent Capellino has knocked down 4-of-6 three-pointers (66.7 percent) in the three conference games, which is the highest percentage in the CCAA.

IT'S ALL ON THE LINE
One of the Pioneers' biggest strengths this year is the number of veteran players upon whom they can rely for scoring, and many of them have already shown the ability to get shots or get to the line. So far, East Bay ranks third in the conference in free throws attempted (and they lead the CCAA if we're just including the three conference games). However, the team currently ranks dead last in free throw percentage (60.1 percent). If the Pioneers can improve themselves at the line, it could be a prolific offensive unit this year.

PERFECT FROM THE FLOOR
Newcomer Ryan Hebebrand has been flawless this year shooting the basketball. Through six games, Hebebrand hasn't missed a shot from the floor, going 8-for-8. He's also the Pioneers' third-leading rebounder, averaging 4.2 rpg.

PREPARING FOR THE PENGUINS
Dominican enters the weekend on a two-game winning streak after defeating Holy Names and Notre Dame de Namur last week to open PacWest play. The Penguins have already played four other CCAA opponents this year, including wins over Cal State Stanislaus and San Francisco State and losses to Sonoma State and Cal State Monterey Bay. Dominican excels in two areas where the Pioneers have struggled, leading the PacWest in free throw percentage (76.1 percent) and ranking second in rebounding margin (+6.3). In a fun early-season statistical oddity, the top five scorers for the Penguins all average between 10 and 11 ppg. Of those, Jacob Noisat (10.4 ppg) also leads the team in rebounding (6.3 rpg) and field goal percentage (59.2 percent). Ricky Wofford (10.7 ppg) also leads the team in assists (3.1 apg). The Pioneers defeated Dominican 88-68 last year in Hayward.