Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. --- It took two extra periods to decide a winner, but the Cal State East Bay men's basketball team came up just short against Dominican on Saturday night, falling 110-106 in double overtime. The Pioneers finished 0-2 this weekend at the PacWest/CCAA Basketball Challenge, hosted by Dominican, and the team is still looking for its first win of 2013-14.
"Both teams played a great game," said head coach
Gus Argenal. "Dominican is extremely well-coached, and they executed at the end of the game. Our team played with great passion and heart. I'm proud of how they represented the program."
Mark Samuels scored 26 points to lead the Pioneers, and
Gabe Kindred notched 24, a career high, before fouling out. The pair played 45 and 46 minutes, respectively. Kindred surpassed his previous career best of 23 points, set just last night. He was 6-for-12 from the field and also led the team with nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
After the game, Kindred was named to the All-Tournament team. The senior averaged 23.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and shot 60.9 percent from the floor over two nights.
Samuels added five assists and five rebounds. The senior did much of his scoring damage from the free throw line, where he knocked down 10-of-11.
Jacari Whitfield notched 41 minutes of court time and reached double figures with 11 points. The junior guard drilled 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Jerramy King played just nine minutes, but he had the hot hand, totaling 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting. Fellow newcomer
Jarred Jourdan scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds in 32 minutes before he fouled out.
Kyle Frakes also fouled out, but not before scoring six points and pulling in three rebounds.
Nick Grieves had seven points, and
Ota Okungbowa scored five — all from the free throw line.
Darrick McIntosh had four boards in 14 minutes.
The Pioneers shot 46.4 percent as a team. They hit 7-of-21 from long distance, and made 71.4 percent of their foul shots. East Bay forced 20 turnovers and racked up 12 steals, but they committed just 12 turnovers of their own. The Penguins shot 50.8 percent from the game and won the rebounding margin, 46-40.
The game featured 73 personal fouls and 108 attempted free throws between the two teams. Both squads had four players foul out, and by the second overtime, the Pioneers were nearly out of frontcourt players.
It was an exceptional basketball game, but ultimately a frustrating finish for East Bay. They controlled the tempo early and had the lead for the entire first half. They were up by as much as 15 and went into halftime with an 11-point advantage.
It was midway through the second half when Dominican finally made its run and cut into the Pioneer lead, but they didn't actually tie the score until 2:30 remained on the clock. DU took a two-point lead, but Kindred scored with 48 seconds left to tie it at 75-75. Both squads then had a chance to win in regulation before heading into OT.
They traded points back-and-forth in the first overtime until CSUEB took an 85-82 lead with 1:09 remaining on a pair of free throws by Kindred. However, the Penguins' Myles Carrillo scored, got fouled, and made the free throw to tie the game back up with 40 seconds left. Samuels couldn't get his jumper to fall at the other end, forcing double OT.
The Pioneers refused the quit, but they finally started to lose the battle of attrition in the second overtime. Carrillo, who finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds and was named tournament MVP, made a couple of big buckets. The Penguins hit nearly all of their free throws down the stretch, preventing a valiant Pioneer comeback attempt.
East Bay will be back in action next weekend at Sonoma State's tournament. They'll take on Fresno Pacific on Friday followed by a rematch with Dominican on Satuday.
