HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team will play its final two games of the 2013-14 season this weekend against a pair of Bay Area rivals. The Pioneers (7-19, 4-16) will visit San Francisco State on Friday night, followed by Sonoma State on Saturday night, as they wrap up their first season under head coach
Gus Argenal.
WEEKLY RECAP
CSUEB saw good crowds on hand at Pioneer Gym for the final weekend of home games. On Friday night, they were defeated 92-61 by a red-hot Cal State Stanislaus team that out-shot the Pioneers 58 percent to 31 percent from the field.
Jarred Jourdan led East Bay with 15 points in the loss.
The following night, the Pioneers dropped their ninth straight, 70-56, to Chico State. The game was preceded by an emotional "Senior Night" ceremony, which honored the careers of
Mark Samuels,
Kenneth Farr II,
Donavon Jackson,
Gabe Kindred, and
Ryan Hebebrand.
Click here to view a PDF of the
Senior Night program, featuring career highlights from each student-athlete.
PIONEER POINTS
East Bay opened CCAA play with a 3-3 record in its first six games, but the team has lost 13 of 14 since then. For the season, the Pioneers are scoring 73.2 points per game, fifth-best in the conference. They're shooting 72.4 percent at the free throw line (third-best) and 34.4 percent from three-point range (sixth-best).
Kindred is the fifth-highest scorer in a CCAA at 16.3 points per game and ranks second in three-point shooting. The Oakland native leads the conference in made free throws, last weekend extending his single-season school record to 145.
Jacari Whitfield paced the squad with 13 points in Saturday's loss, and he's third on the team in scoring for the season (10.3 ppg). The junior has made the fifth-most three-pointers in the conference with 56. Heading into the final weekend, he has made 131 triples for his career, which is just six short of the Pioneer career record.
Hebebrand made the best of his Senior Night, setting career highs with 14 total rebounds and seven offensive boards against the Wildcats. He's fourth in the CCAA in rebounding for the season, averaging 6.6 per game.
Jourdan has been the Pioneers' leading scorer over the past four weekends, averaging 14.0 points per game during that time. The Oakland native has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games.
GAUGING THE GATORS
Despite losing three straight games, SF State is tied for fifth place in the CCAA at 10-10. The Gators lead the conference in free throw shooting (.761), and they commit the fewest turnovers in the league. SFSU has a trio of seniors averaging in double figures in point guard Calvin Otiano (10.0 ppg, 3.6 apg), forward William Overtin, Jr. (12.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg), and guard Nefi Perdomo, who leads the conference in steals and ranks third in scoring at 17.6 ppg. The Gators defeated the Pioneers 71-64 when the teams met earlier this year in Hayward, but East Bay won on the road at SF State last season, 80-76.
SCOUTING THE SEAWOLVES
Sonoma State started the season 1-11, but they're 3-3 in thir last six conference games, inlcuding an 18-point win at UCSD on Saturday. The Seawolves are a good outside shooting team, hitting at 35.4 percent from three, but they rank last in the CCAA in scoring (64.0 ppg). Justin Herold (13.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 57.2% FG) is SSU's top offensive player, and the senior notched 22 points and nine rebounds in a 71-69 loss to the Pioneers earlier this season. That Jan. 24 contest was East Bay's last victory.
