HAYWARD, Calif. -- Cal State East Bay junior
Marcus Norman lit up Pioneer Gymnasium with a career-high 21 points on Saturday night, but it wasn't enough as the men's basketball team fell to Cal State Stanislaus by a final score of 77-67.
The Pioneers drop to 4-14 overall and 2-10 in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) competition with the loss, while the Warriors (12-5, 9-3 CCAA) remain tied atop the league standings.
With just eight healthy players on the roster, the shorthanded Pioneers turned in an inspired effort against the defending CCAA tournament champions. They committed just 10 turnovers and had one of their best rebounding nights of the season against a big, athletic Warrior squad. Ultimately the home team couldn't hit quite enough shots to pull off the upset, as Stanislaus topped East Bay 52 to 34 percent from the field.
Norman, who led all scorers in the game and surpassed 20 points for the first time in his Pioneer career, was red-hot from long distance, going 5-for-7 on three-pointers. The native of Lewisville, Texas also had two assists and grabbed seven rebounds in a team-high 38 minutes.
Cody Kale also notched a season high with 16 points, 10 of which came at the free throw line. The senior played 37 minutes and finished 10-for-11 at the stripe and 3-for-7 from the floor with four rebounds and three assists.
Jacari Whitfield also played 37 minutes and also reached double figures, scoring 13 along with a team-best five assists.
Patrick Marr added 10 points one night after playing all 40 minutes and scoring a career-high 19. Marr,
Kyle Frakes, and
Darrick McIntosh each finished with seven rebounds for the night as the Pioneers racked up 35 as a team.
Stanislaus scored the first ten points of the game, but the Pioneers refused to let them pull away. After the teams traded scoring runs, the Warriors led 24-14 midway through the first half. Norman then buried a pair of long three-pointers to key an 11-0 run that gave the Pioneers their only lead of the game. Whitfield drained his first three to make it 25-24 East Bay with just under five minutes left.
Unfortunately, Stanislaus came back down the court, scored on a putback, and never relinquished the lead. They outscored the Pioneers 40 to 20 in the paint for the contest, and held off each of the home side's rally attempts in the second half.
The undermanned East Bay squad didn't have any wins to show for this weekend's homestand, but they had strong defensive efforts against two of the conference's top teams, despite having lost several starters to injury. They're back on the road next week as they begin their second circuit through the CCAA schedule, starting Friday night at first-place Cal Poly Pomona.
