Box Score LA JOLLA, Calif. — The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team picked up an impressive 72-49 road victory over UC San Diego (9-13, 8-11) on Friday night. It was a dominant effort for the Pioneers (6-17, 5-14 CCAA), who exorcized their shooting demons with a 55.6-percent effort from the field, their best mark of the season. Four players reached double figures in the team's first win since Jan. 11, led by Ryan Hebebrand's 17 points. The 23-point win is the largest margin of victory for East Bay this season.

The game started out tight and low-scoring in the early going. Eight minutes into the game, neither team had yet reached 10 points. The Pioneers had showed some signs of life offensively in their last game against Humboldt State, using a 15-0 run in the second half to take an 11-point lead. Tonight, they finally put it all together, as East Bay was able to gain and maintain a substantial lead through most of the game.

Trailing 10-9 midway through the first half, the Pioneer went on an 11-0 run to take a double-digit lead. They kept that advantage the rest of the period, and the teams headed into halftime with East Bay leading 31-20. The Pioneers out-shot the Tritons 52.4 percent to 28.6 percent and scored 17 points off turnovers in the opening half.

East Bay continued to knock down shots in the second half, and more importantly, they continued to frustrate UCSD defensively. Still leading by 10 with 16 minutes remaining, the Pioneers proceeded to go on a 20-0 run to grab a 57-27 lead and essentially put the game away. East Bay held the Tritons scoreless for nearly six minutes of game time as they ran off their longest uninterrupted scoring run of the season. Jason Smith scored nine of the 20 points, knocking down three straight long balls.

In many ways, this was the best night of the year so far for Cal State East Bay. Their 72 points is the most they've scored since they reached 78 in their last win over HSU. 49 points is the fewest they've allowed since their last road victory (54-45 over Cal State LA on Jan. 4).

The team shot a remarkable 58.3 percent in the second half to finish at 55.6 percent for the game. Not only is this East Bay's highest single-game percentage of the season, it's the first time they've even topped 50 percent as a squad. The Pioneers made 5-of-12 three pointers tonight, good for 41.7 percent. That's the best mark the team has posted from beyond the arc since shooting 44 percent in a win over CSUMB on Dec. 8.

Hebebrand led all scorers with 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting. It's a new career high in scoring for the junior, who was also tops in tonight's game with seven rebounds. Senior Jurrell Turner had two steals and scored 13 points for the Pioneers, knocking down 5-of-6 shots from the floor. Smith added 12 points, all of which came on three-pointers, to go along with four boards.

Vincent Capellino also reached double figures, notching 11 points, four rebounds, and a team-high three assists in a team-high 35 minutes. Gabe Kindred added seven points and four rebounds. Ota Okungbowa notched six points and grabbed three boards and three steals, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Donavon Jackson turned in three points and three rebounds in eight active minutes off the bench.

East Bay's road trip continues tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. The Pioneers head up to San Bernardino where they'll be looking for their first road win over the Coyotes in program history.