HAYWARD, Calif. -- Fresh off their first road victory of the season, the Cal State East Bay men's basketball team returns to Pioneer Gym this weekend to host the final two home games of the year. The Pioneers welcome in a pair of postseason hopefuls in Cal State San Bernardino on Friday night, followed by Humboldt State on Saturday night.

Both contests are set for 7:30 p.m. following the women's games. Friday is "Pink Night" at CSUEB in support of breast cancer research and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. To make a donation, please visit play4kay.org/CSUEB. Saturday's game will be preceded by a brief ceremony to honor the five East Bay seniors who will be competing at Pioneer Gym for the final time.  

RETURN OF THE GREAT EIGHT
After 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 played its best basketball of the season over the last few weeks. They have won two of their past three games, turning in outstanding defensive efforts despite playing without junior Jack Pasquini, who was leading the NCAA West Region in rebounding before his injury.

WEEKLY RECAP
The Pioneers hung tough against a physical Cal State L.A. team on Friday night, ultimately falling 63-53 in the Eagles Nest. Senior Nick Grieves had the hot hand that night, scoring a game-high 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting from long distance. On Saturday, East Bay completed its season sweep of Cal State Dominguez Hills with a dramatic 62-58 overtime victory. Patrick Marr posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in a back-and-forth contest. He was one of four Pioneers to score in double figures.

Although they had just six players left when the final buzzer sounded, senior Jacari Whitfield took over for the Pioneers in the overtime period. He out-scored the entire Dominguez Hills team with 11 points in the extra frame, going 6-for-6 from the foul line down the stretch to clinch it. Whitfield finished with 17 points and seven assists, marking his seventh straight game scoring in double figures. 

SENIOR NIGHT NOTES
Whitfield draws near the end of a remarkable four-year career at CSUEB. He burst onto the scene in the 2011-12, playing 28 minutes per game in his first season and winning CCAA Freshman of the Year honors. The San Francisco native is having his best season as a senior, leading the Pioneers in scoring (10.5 ppg). He also ranks third in the league in assists (4.0 apg) and fourth in three-pointers made (48). Whitfield will finish his career as one of the prolific shooters in the history of the program. He holds the school record for career three-pointers (183) and free throw percentage (.852). He ranks ninth all-time in scoring (889 points) and third in assists (328), needing just two more to move into second place. Whitfield has played in 83 games as a Pioneer and has led the team in minutes each of the last three seasons.

Grieves joined Cal State East Bay last season after transferring from San Jose State and has been the team's leading outside shooter each of the past two seasons while averaging 9.1 ppg. A native of Aptos, he has played in 49 games for East Bay, scoring in double figures 21 times. Last year, he knocked down 63 long balls at a 41.4 percent clip. This year, he ranks third in the CCAA in three-pointers (49) and leads the Pioneers shooting 37.1 percent from deep. In just two seasons, Grieves has vaulted up to sixth place in school history with 112 made triples. He also holds the program's single-game record with eight made three-pointers on the last day of the 2013-14 season at Sonoma State. 

Jarred Jourdan came to CSUEB last season after spending a year each at Los Positas College and Liberty University. As a junior, he played in 25 games and finished fifth on the team in scoring and rebounding. In 2014-15, the Oakland native started the team's first nine games and scored in double figures three times before an injury wiped out the latter half of his senior season. Through January 10, Jourdan was third in the CCAA in free throw shooting at 88.9 percent (24-for-27). He scored a career high 20 points last February against Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Darrick McIntosh has been invaluable to the injury-plagued Pioneers this season, providing consistently strong interior defense. The Logan, Utah native came to East Bay last season as a junior transfer after two seasons at College of Marin. McIntosh started nine games in 2013-14, shooting 65 percent from the field and pulling in 3.3 rebounds per game. As a senior, he has played in all 24 contests for the Pioneers, making nine starts. He's second on the team in blocks and fifth in rebounds, grabbing a career-high seven boards last month against Cal State Stanislaus.

Cody Kale joined the Pioneers this year as a senior transfer after stops at Yuba City College and Humboldt State. After missing the first four games of the season with an injury, the Rocklin native has started the last 18 contests for CSUEB. Kale leads the team in field goal percentage for the season (.422). He also ranks second on the Pioneers in assists (38) and minutes (28.7 mpg) and fourth in points (175) and rebounds (75). Averaging just under nine points per game, Kale has reached double figures eight times this year, and he scored a career-high 16 points on three occasions. 

Current CCAA Standings
CCAA Statistical Leaders

SCOUTING CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO
The Coyotes have won five of their last six and currently cling to a spot in the CCAA playoffs. Both of their games last weekend went into overtime, as they fell to Chico State but defeated Cal State Stanislaus. CSUSB shoots 44.6 percent as a team and is third in the league in scoring (69.3 ppg). They lead the CCAA in assists, but rank last in rebound margin. Junior guard Jacob Thomas (17.7 ppg) is the CCAA's leading scorer, and point guard Isaiah Morton (12.9 ppg, 3.7 apg) ranks fourth in the league in assists. Cal State East Bay is 2-9 against the Coyotes since joining the CCAA in 2009-10, and CSUSB picked up an 81-63 win when the teams met in San Bernardino on Jan. 17.

SCOUTING HUMBOLDT STATE
The Jacks have been lot lately, winning six of their last seven to vault into a tie for third place in the CCAA standings. They've given up the most points in the league, but they're also by far the highest scoring team at 82.1 ppg. HSU also leads the CCAA in steals and blocks, and ranks second in free throw percentage (.737) and three-point percentage (.369). Humboldt has four players averaging double figures in scoring and shooting at least 46 percent from the field, led by Austin Bryan (14.5 ppg, 46.4% 3FG) and Allen Guei (14.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg). Freshman Malik Morgan (11.5 ppg, 5.1 apg) leads the league in assists. The Pioneers gave the Jacks a good game on Jan. 15 in Arcata, falling 87-80. HSU holds an 8-3 advantage in the series since 2009-10, but East Bay has won three straight in Pioneer Gym.