Friday, Feb. 8
vs. Cal State Dominguez Hills (10-11, 6-8 CCAA)
Pioneer Gym
7:30 p.m.
Live Stats 

Saturday, Feb. 9
vs. Cal State L.A. (10-8, 7-7 CCAA)
Pioneer Gym
7:30 p.m.
Live Stats

HAYWARD, Calif. – It's homecoming week on the Hayward campus of Cal State East Bay, and the Pioneer men are at the center of the action. After a week's worth of events celebrating five decades of Pioneer Pride, the basketball teams cap things off with home games against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday and Cal State L.A. on Saturday. The Pioneers (5-13, 4-10) are scheduled to tip-off both games at 7:30 p.m. at Pioneer Gym, directly following the East Bay women, who start at 5:30 p.m.

WEEKEND RECAP
It was a frustrating pair of games at home last weekend for the Pioneers, who played better offensively, but ran into two extremely hot shooting teams. On Friday, Sonoma State came in and shot 54 percent from the floor and 59 percent from three, riding 40 points from Will Olsem to an 87-70 win. Nick Marshall scored 16 points for East Bay, and Vincent Capellino posted his highest scoring game with 15 points and six rebounds.

Saturday night was the annual Battle of the Bay, and a great crowd came out to see the Pioneers take on SF State. It was a similar game to the previous night, however, as the Gators shot 56 percent en route to an 89-66 victory. Gabe Kindred led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-13 from the floor and 7-of-7 from the line. Spencer Britschgi reached double figures for the first time in his career, knocking down three triples and totaling 11 points off the bench. 

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT
The Pioneers have lost seven in a row since beating Humboldt State at home nearly a month ago. They still have the ability to get back to .500 in CCAA play, but they embark on a four-game road trip after this weekend, so these two games are paramount.

As has been the case for most of the year, the Pioneers are good at getting turnovers and creating extra possessions. They're an excellent offensive rebounding team, ranking second in the conference despite often being undersized. It's what the team does with those extra possessions that has been the problem. They've struggled to find a reliable source of scoring and have had difficulty with consistent outside shooting.

Junior guard Gabe Kindred has shown recent flashes that he can provide that scoring answer for the Pioneers. He leads the team at 12.3 ppg and has taken over offensively in three of the past five games, scoring 20, 18, and 22 points while improving his shooting percentages. Saturday was Kindred's highest-scoring game as a Pioneer.

If the team is in search of a script to a win this weekend, they need only look back to the last time they played Cal State LA, which stands as perhaps the high point of the season. The Pioneers beat the Golden Eagles at their own game, holding them to 32 percent shooting and winning a low-scoring affair 54-45. East Bay got some help that night from senior Jason Smith, who was perfect from the field and scored 21 points. The Pioneers will look for someone to step up similarly and make big shots this weekend.

HOMECOMING 2013 – '57 CLASSIC
Cal State East Bay is hosting activities for students, fans, and alumni throughout the week. This includes everything from a SAAC Pep Rally & Variety Show, to a Pioneer Fashion Show, to a Drive-In Movie Night. On Friday, there will be a Homecoming Parade at 3 p.m., followed by a Tailgate BBQ before the basketball games versus CSUDH. Saturday will feature a baseball doubleheader against Oregon Tech starting at noon, as well as an Alumni Social at the ME Lounge in Hayward before the basketball teams take on Cal State L.A.

TRACKING THE TOROS
Cal State Dominguez Hills enters the weekend having lost their last four games, despite playing six in a row at home. They're the lowest scoring team in the CCAA (63.5 ppg) and rank next-to-last in field goal percentage (41.3 percent). However, they shoot and defend the three-pointer very well, hitting at 37.7 percent as a team. The Toros are also one of the conference's best rebounding teams. DeShaun Freeman leads the team in scoring at 11.7 ppg. Lamine Diame is the CCAA's third leading rebounder (8.2 rpg, though he also leads the conference in turnovers), while point guard Alex Strauther ranks fifth in assists (3.5 apg). CSUDH defeated the Pioneers, 69-54, in Carson earlier this year.

SCOUTING CAL STATE LA
The Golden Eagles are still in the thick of the conference race, currently tied for fourth at 7-7. Saturday will be a tough test for the Pioneers, as Cal State LA comes in sporting one of the country's top defenses. As a team, they rank fifth in the nation in scoring defense and blocked shots, and they lead the nation in opponents' field goal percentage (36.6 percent). This could be a difficult matchup for East Bay, which ranks last in the CCAA in shooting percentage, although the Pioneers did manage to defeat the Golden Eagles on the road earlier this season. Cal State LA is also the top-ranked rebounding team in the conference, but they rank last in three-point shooting. The Golden Eagles are led by James Tillman, the CCAA's third leading scorer at 15.8 ppg. Forward Jordan Richard has been arguably the conference's top defensive player, leading the nation in blocks (4.5 bpg), and ranking second in the CCAA in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and third in FG percentage (59.9 percent).