HAYWARD, Calif. — The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team will conclude the 2012-13 season this week with a pair of home games at Pioneer Gym. After playing their best basketball of the year last week, the Pioneers (7-17, 6-14 CCAA) will look to bring that momentum back to Hayward and make one final push up the CCAA standings. This week's schedule is different than usual, as East Bay will host Chico State for a Thursday night matchup at 7:30 p.m. Then on Friday, the Pioneers celebrate Senior Night when they take on Cal State Stanislaus in the regular season finale.

WEEKEND RECAP
East Bay was a different team in Southern California last weekend than the one we have been seeing for the last couple months. Despite being eliminated from postseason contention, the Pioneers went on the road, upped their level of physicality, and played their two best offensive games of the season.

On Friday night, they blew out UC San Diego in their own gym, cruising to a 72-49 win. The team shot 55.6 percent, easily their highest single-game total this season. Four Pioneers scored in double figures, led by Ryan Hebebrand, who netted 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.

The following evening, the score was much closer, but the East Bay shooting was just as hot. The Pioneers shot 52.7 percent from the game, just the second time they've topped 50 percent all year. Five players reached double figures in scoring, led by Jason Smith with 18, which came on 6-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.

NINE IS FINE 
Jacari Whitfield dishes out nine assists against the Coyotes on Saturday to go along with his 10 points. Not only is this a career high in assists for the sophomore, it's the most by any East Bay player in four seasons. Whitfield is now the Pioneer record holder for most assists in a CCAA game. He's averaging 2.8 apg this year, which ranks ninth in the conference.

COMING-OUT PARTY
Hebebrand, a junior transfer, has had a solid first season with the Pioneers. He leads the team with a 62.5 field goal percentage, ranks second with 4.7 rpg, and adds 5.5 ppg in just over 20 minutes. Hebebrand has played in 23 games this year and made 10 starts, but last weekend was a truly impressive coming-out party.

He was the leading scorer and rebounder in Friday's win, with his 17-and-7 effort on 77.8 percent shooting, but he was even better the following night. Matched up the entire game against leading CCAA Player of the Year candidate Kwame Alexander, Hebebrand led the Pioneers to a win with 14 points, seven more rebounds, and two steals. For the weekend he paced the squad with 31 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 65 percent from the floor.

CELEBRATING THE SENIORS
Four Pioneer seniors will be playing their final games at Cal State East Bay on Saturday. There will be a short ceremony prior to tip-off to honor these four student-athletes and their families:

Nick Marshall has been a rebounding machine in his two years at East Bay. As a junior, he averaged 8.9 ppg and a team-best 6.3 rpg, though he missed much of the season. This year, the Vallejo native has been able to stay on the court, playing in 20 games and making 17 starts entering this weekend. He's averaging 7.9 ppg and ranks sixth in the CCAA with 6.6 rpg. Marshall's career scoring high is 16 points, done twice this season. He grabbed a career-best 16 rebounds (seven of them offensive) on Feb. 8 against CSUDH.

Vincent Capellino has seen his role increase substantially from the start of his Pioneer career to the end. As a junior, he averaged 11.5 minutes and 3.7 ppg. As a senior he's playing in every game and scored 6.6 ppg, leading the team in minutes for the month of February. He posted a career high with 15 points on Feb. 1 against Sonoma State and grabbed a career-best eight rebounds on Valentine's Day against Pomona. Four of his eight career double-digit scoring efforts have come in the past four games, during which time he's shooting 54.2 percent from the field.

Hayward native Jurrell Turner has been a reliable offensive player for the Pioneers as he finishes off two excellent seasons. As a junior, Turner started 24 games and finished with the team's fourth-best scoring average and second-best field goal percentage. He has improved his production this year, leading East Bay in the latter category and ranking second in the former. For his career, Turner has played in 48 of a possible 50 games, making 44 starts. He has averaged 8.0 ppg and 3.4 rpg, while shooting 46.8 percent from the floor. He scored a career-high 18 points twice this season and grabbed a person-best 10 rebounds in his only career double-double on Dec. 30 against CSUMB.

Jason Smith will complete his career as one of the most prolific three-point shooters in Cal State East Bay history. Entering the weekend, he ranks third on the all-time Pioneer career list with 122 three pointers made. He needs five more this week to move into second place and 15 to become the all-time leader. Smith has reached double figures in scoring 21 times in his career, including four games in which he topped 20 points. His career high of 23 came twice last season in back-to-back weeks. In two seasons, Smith has played in 49 games and made 37 starts. He averaged 10.5 ppg as a junior and 8.9 ppg for his career, while shooting 40.0 percent from three-point range.

MARCH MADNESS T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY
Cal State East Bay Athletics is partnering with The Pioneer Newspaper to kick off March Madness 2013. The first 100 CSUEB students to bring the March Madness ad from this week's issue of The Pioneer to the basketball games on Thursday will receive a free Basketball Madness t-shirt.

CHECKING IN WITH CHICO STATE
The Wildcats are hot at the right time heading into the final week, having won five games in a row. They've taken and made the most three-pointers in the conference, but Chico really gets it done on the defensive end. They rank 11th in the nation in scoring defense (60.3 ppg) and 16th nationally in opponents' three-point percentage. The Wildcats have the second-best scoring margin in the CCAA at +7.4 and are currently tied with Cal State LA for fourth place in the standings. Juniors Amir Carraway (11.3 ppg) and Rashad Parker (11.1 ppg) both average in double figures for Chico, and Jordan Semple ranks ninth in the conference with 6.2 rpg. The Wildcats have won their last four meetings with the Pioneers, including a 68-43 victory in Chico earlier this year.

SCOUTING CSU STANISLAUS
After an impressive home sweep of UCSD and CSUSB two weeks ago, the Warriors lost both their games last weekend to Cal State LA and Dominguez Hills. Stanislaus makes the fewest free throws in the conference and commits the most turnovers. They do have a positive scoring margin, at +1.2, despite their record. The Warriors are led by senior Marcus Walters, who's averaging 11.8 ppg and 4.7 rpg while shooting 40 percent from three. Junior Nick Hodge also scores in double figures, posting 11.0 ppg and a team-high 5.3 rpg. Junior point guard Sam Marcus leads the CCAA with 4.3 assists per game and ranks third in assist/turnover ratio. The Pioneers lost to Stanislaus 80-70 earlier this year in Turlock and have never beaten the Warriors since joining the CCAA.