HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team plays its final two home games of the 2013-14 season this weekend against a pair of the top 10 teams in the West Region, according to this week's NCAA poll. The Pioneers host Cal State Stanislaus on Friday night, followed by Chico State on Saturday night, as they look to snap a seven-losing streak.
Saturday's contest will be preceded by a brief ceremony to honors the five seniors on this year's team who will be competing in Pioneer Gym for the final time. Both games this weekend will be available to view live at
pioneerwebtv.com.
WEEKLY RECAP
East Bay returned home from a four-game road trip last weekend and suffered a pair of losses, dropping their home record to 6-5. On Friday, the Pioneers nearly upset No. 17 Cal State San Bernardino, but couldn't quite get enough outside shots to fall in an 80-73 defeat. The next night, freshman
Aaron Cameron had a career-high 14 points and went 4-for-8 from three-point range, but it wasn't enough to overcome a hot-shooting UC Diego team, which left Hayward with an 83-67 win.
SCOUTING STANISLAUS
The Warriors have lost three of their last four and are 4-6 on the road this year. They lead the CCAA in field goal percentage (.486) and rebounding margin (+6.8) for the season, and they rank third in scoring defense. Player of the Year candidate Marcus Bell (17.5 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 56% FG) leads the CCAA in rebounding. Stanislaus defeated the Pioneers 89-81 in an epic double-overtime battle in Turlock back in January.
WATCHING THE WILDCATS
Chico State has won six of its last seven and is currently ranked just outside the nation's top 25. They defeated East Bay 83-75 when the teams met last month in Chico. The Wildcats are the second-highest scoring team in the CCAA at 75.9 points per game, and they possess the second-best defense, allowing 63.9 ppg. Chico shoots 47 percent from the field as a team and they're led offensively by guards Sean Park (14.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and Rashad Parker (13.4 ppg, 2.9 apg) and forwards Jordan Semple (12.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 58% FG) and Amir Carraway (12.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg).
SENIOR NIGHT NOTES
Berekely native
Mark Samuels has been a Pioneer since 2009 and will graduate this spring as one of the most prolific players in school history. Samuels led Cal State East Bay in scoring in each of first three seasons. He was a second-team All-CCAA honoree as a junior after finishing finishing second in the conference in scoring. For his career, Samuels is the third-highest scorer in the history of Pioneer men's basketball with 1,286 points. He also ranks fifth all-time in school history with 284 assists, seventh all-time with 389 rebounds, and 10th all-time with 110 steals. Since the Pioneers joined the CCAA, Samuels leads the program in scoring, rebounding, and assists, and heading into the weekend he has scored 999 points against CCAA competition.
A native of Richmond, Calif.,
Kenneth Farr II has played in 66 games, grabbed 49 rebounds, and shot 50 percent from the field. Farr has been a starter for the last four games of his senior season, but his impact off the court has been much larger. He has been involved in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee since he was a freshman, and this year he's serving as East Bay's SAAC president. He participated in the NCAA Leadership Forum, and he represented the CCAA at last year's NCAA Division II Identity Workshop. Farr was the men's basketball team's Scholar-Athlete Award winner as a junior, and he holds a 3.35 GPA as a liberal studies major.
Donavon Jackson came to East Bay from Lake Forest, Calif. in 2009 and was the team's third-leading scorer as a true freshman. In four seasons, he has played in 91 games for the Pioneers and scored in double figures 13 times. He had a career-high 19 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Chico State in Pioneer Gym back in February 2011. For his career, Jackson has racked up 410 points, 204 rebounds, and 107 assists. He will graduate this spring with his degree in psychology.
Oakland native
Gabe Kindred transferred to Cal State East Bay for his junior and senior years. He has been the Pioneers' leading scorer in each of his two seasons, starting 41 games and topping 20 points 11 times. This year, he's the fifth-leading scorer in the CCAA at 17.0 points per game and ranks No. 1 in three-point shooting. He went 16-for-16 at the free throw line against Cal State Monterey Bay in December, setting program records for made free throws and percentage in a single game. Kindred has made 139 free throws this season and attempted 177, both of which lead the CCAA and both of which are new single-season school records. His career free throw percentage of 76.1 ranks sixth in Pioneer history.
A native of Livermore,
Ryan Hebebrand transferred to East Bay prior to the 2012-13 season and shot 62.7 percent from the field to lead the team in his first year. As a senior, he leads the Pioneers and ranks sixth in the CCAA averaging 6.3 rebounds per game. In two years, Hebebrand has played in 60 games and made 37 starts. He has scored 301 total points and grabbed 279 boards, including a career-high 13 rebounds last year in a game against Cal State Stanislaus. He also holds a 3.34 GPA as a kinesiology major.
