HAYWARD, Calif. --- The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team plays the first of two December contests against Cal State Monterey Bay this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at Pioneer Gym. The Pioneers (3-4, 1-1 CCAA) will then take on Menlo College on Monday evening in their final home game of the 2013 calendar year. The games will be broadcast live at
PioneerWebTV.com.
WEEKEND RECAP
East Bay had a strong opening to its 2013-14 conference schedule, picking up a 69-64 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills last Friday.
Gabe Kindred led the way with 18 points, and
Mark Samuels added 15 points and six assists as the Pioneers started 1-0 in CCAA play for the third straight year.Â
The following night, CSUEB dropped a close game to a talented Cal State L.A. team, 78-74. The Pioneers shot just 39.3 percent as a team and committed a season-high 21 turnovers, but they managed to hang tough with the Golden Eagles despite a size disadvantage. Kindred paced the squad with 22 points, and
Donavon Jackson notched 16 off the bench.
PIONEER POINTS
Through seven games, East Bay is the second-highest scoring team in the CCAA at 80.6 points per game. They lead the conference in made three-pointers and rank second in three-point percentage. The Pioneers have also committed the second-fewest turnovers in the league.
Kindred leads the team and ranks seventh in the CCAA averaging 18.7 points per game. The senior guard also ranks second in the conference in steals (11) and made free throws (48). Kinded has had two perfect performances at the charity stripe this season, going 11-for-11 against Fresno Pacific and 10-for-10 against Cal State L.A.
Jacari Whitfield is East Bay's second-leading scorer at 13.4 ppg, having posted double figures in all but one game. The junior currently ranks second in the CCAA in made three-pointers (23) and is knocking them down at a 40.4 percent clip.
Mark Samuels has played the most minutes in the conference entering the weekend, and he's third among all players with 4.4 assists per game. A four-year senior, Samuels has scored 1,108 career points and needs just four on Saturday to move into third place in Pioneer history. He also ranks sixth all-time with 246 career assists, and ninth with 331 rebounds.Â
Junior transfer
Nick Grieves had made a big impression from beyond the arc so far, knocking down more than half of his attempts. He's four on the team in scoring at 10.4 ppg and ranks second in the conference in three-point percentage at .531 (17-for-32).
OUTLOOK ON THE OTTERS
After picking up wins over Academy of Art and NDNU, the Otters have dropped three straight to Dominican, Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills. They rank third in the conference in rebounding (and first in offensive rebounding), but they're allowing the third-most points per game (79.8). Monterey Bay is led offensively by Ryan Nitz (19.0 ppg, 55.4 percent shooting) and Alex Fertig (14.6 ppg). The Pioneers are 4-4 against CSUMB since joining the CCAA in 2009. Last season, the teams split two games with each squad winning at home.Â
SCOUTING MENLO
Monday night will be Menlo's first game of the season against a Division II opponent. Keith Bowman is the team leader in scoring (20.5 ppg), shooting percentage (.556), and rebounding (7.5 rpg). This will be the first meeting between Menlo and East Bay since 2009, which the Pioneers won 65-53.
