HAYWARD, Calif. – Cal State East Bay nearly pulled off a furious comeback against No. 22 Humboldt State on Saturday night inside Pioneer Gymnasium. The Pioneers missed a pair of game-tying layups in the final seconds as the Jacks escaped with a 69-67 decision to spoil East Bay's home finale.

"This is not how I wanted to send our seniors out. We once again were just one or two plays shy of defeating Humboldt. I really thought we had the win tonight, but Humboldt had one too many big plays," said East Bay Head Coach Suzy Barcomb.
 
Seniors Alyssa Palma, Sharissa Estremera, Stephanie Lopez, and Micah Walker were honored during pregame ceremonies playing in the final home game of their respective careers. A valiant second half comeback nearly gave them the storybook ending they had hoped to write.
 
Humboldt State (22-3, 18-2 CCAA) remains alone atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings following tonight's win. The Jacks earned the regular season sweep of the Pioneers with both victories coming by only two points.
 
Cal State East Bay was playing from behind throughout a majority of Saturday's action and trailed Humboldt State 60-47 with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation. Cal State East Bay responded by scoring the next 12 points to pull within one, and would go on to have three different possessions to tie or take the lead.
 
The Pioneers trailed by two and forced a turnover to gain possession with 6.9 seconds remaining. Lopez drove to the basket and missed a reverse layup off the bottom of the backboard. East Bay grabbed the loose ball and missed on two potential game-tying close range shots as the final horn sounded.
 
"We missed too many easy baskets. I don't know if that was from fatigue, lack of focus, or fouls. We needed to be stronger with the ball and make some big plays," said Barcomb.
 
Cal State East Bay connected on just 12-of-42 (.286) second half attempts from the floor. The Pioneers took 74 shots in total in large part to the 26 offensive boards they grabbed on the night.
 
Tori Breshers finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds to make it back-to-back double-double efforts. She and Walker both grabbed 11 boards for the second straight night. Point guard Shannon Bland and Lopez snatched eight apiece as the Pioneers enjoyed a 50-39 advantage on the glass.
 
Lopez finished with game-highs of 24 points and six assists. She has scored 479 points on the season and is five points from breaking the program's single season record of 483, set by Shawn Spangler during the 1982-83 season.
 
A'Jaee Foster led Humboldt State with 19 points and nine rebounds in 37 minutes. Danielle Gaumer knocked down three second half 3-pointers and finished with 14 points.
 
Cal State East Bay (16-10, 11-9 CCAA) will play its final two regular season games on the road next weekend. The Pioneers will face Cal State Stanislaus on Friday, Feb. 27.

Cal State East Bay will finish sixth in the final league standings regardless of its results over the final weekend of play. The Pioneers will play the No. 3 seed in the first round of the CCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 5.