HAYWARD, Calif. -- Following a thrilling Homecoming victory this past Saturday, the Cal State East Bay's men's basketball team will attempt to carry its momentum on the season's final road trip to Southern California. The Pioneers visit Cal State L.A. this Friday night and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Valentine's Day, with both contests set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
WALKING WOUNDEDAfter losing several student-athletes to season-ending injuries, the Pioneers are down to eight healthy players on their roster -- and only one of them was in the starting lineup for the first game of the season. Despite the adversity, the squad has continued to improve, turning in their two best defensive performances of the season the last two weekends.
WEEKLY RECAPThis past Friday, East Bay fell to a hot-shooting Sonoma State squad that had six players score in double figures.
Cody Kale led the Pioneers with 16 points on the rainy night, but they dropped their eighth game in a row. The following evening, CSUEB played its most inspired game of the season and did virtually all its damage from long distance. 21 of the Pioneers' 23 shot attempts in the first half were from three-point range. They ended up shooting 38 percent from long range for the game, led by
Nick Grieves with 17 points (5-for-10 from three). The shorthanded team played stellar defense to hang on for the 61-53 win in front of an animated crowd of more than 1,000 Pioneer faithful.
PIONEER POINTSDuring CCAA play this season, the Pioneers rank second among the 12 schools in offensive rebounds and three-point field goals. Junior
Jack Pasquini was leading the conference in rebounding before sustaining a season-ending injury. Grieves and fellow senior
Jacari Whitfield both rank in the top six in the league in three-pointers.
Whitfield is East Bay's leading scorer for the season and has reached double figures in five straight games. He recently moved into 10th place on the program's all-time scoring list with 860 points. He also knocked down six long balls this past weekend to extend his own school record to 179 in his four-year career.
The San Francisco native leads the Pioneers and ranks third among CCAA players with 85 assists for the season. He has now dished out 316 career assists, which is the third-most in program history and just 16 sky of Lorenzo Hall (1986-90) in second place.
Kale leads the squad in field goal percentage (.416) in his first season at East Bay. Along with Whitfield, he has been the team's offensive leader in recent weeks, averaging 35 minutes and 12.0 points over the last five games.
Junior
Marcus Norman posted his second-highest scoring total of the season on Saturday with 13 points, nine of which came on first-half three-pointers. The Texas native has been red hot from deep, shooting 50 percent on three-pointers over the last five contests (13-for-26).
Freshman
Patrick Marr has been one of the top first-year players in the league this season. Since Pasquini got injured, he leads the Pioneers in rebounding at 6.5 per game. For the year, he leads all CCAA freshman in rebounding (4.5 rpg), and he ranks second in scoring (7.4 ppg) and third in minutes (22.3 mpg).
Current CCAA StandingsCCAA Statistical LeadersSCOUTING CAL STATE L.A.The Golden Eagles have lost five of their last six and shoot 43.1 percent as a team for the season. They rank last in the CCAA in points per game during league play, but they're fifth in defense. Junior guards Labradford Franklin (9.6 ppg, 3.2 apg) and Joel Brokenbrough (8.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 51.6% FG) are the team's top scorers. CSULA held Cal State East Bay to 32 percent shooting in a 62-50 win earlier this season in Hayward, improving their record to 10-1 against the Pioneers since East Bay joined the CCAA in 2009-10.
TRACKING THE TOROSCal State Dominguez Hills is in last place in the league at 2-14, but they beat Humboldt State 79-76 on Saturday. They ranks ninth in the CCAA in scoring (
61.4 ppg) and field goal percentage (.429) and fifth in rebound margin. Ivan Dooley (12.2 ppg) is CSUDH's leading scorer, and Justin Sadler (10.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 61.4% FG) and Darnell Martin (7.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg) are its top rebounders. The Pioneers eked out a 55-53 win over the Toros back in January, but Dominguez holds a 9-2 advantage in the series over the last six seasons.
