CHICO, Calif – The Cal State East Bay Pioneers improved to 5-1 on the season and 3-0 away from Pioneer Gymnasium with a 71-53 victory over Northwest Nazarene University Friday night November 25 to kick off the 2016 Mac Martin Invitational hosted by Chico State.
 
The 5-1 start is the best in Cal State East Bay history since rejoining the NCAA Division II in 2009-10. The 3-0 road start is the best under fourth year head coach Gus Argenal.
 
With the loss the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders fell to 2-2 on the season.
 
Senior forward Micah Dunhour paced the Pioneers with a game-high 23 points. Dunhour added six rebounds and two assists on 32 minutes of action off the bench. He finished the game going 6-for-12 shooting from the field, including 2-for-3 from long distance while knocking down all nine of his foul shots.
 
Dunhour has now scored in double figures in four straight contests, and in five games overall. He also has three outings of 20 or more points.
 
Senior guard Jalen Richard scored a season-high 16 points to go along with a team best seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in 27 minutes. Richard connected on a season best four three-pointers in the win.
 
He went a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.
 
Senior guard Pierre Carter tallied East 13 points, four rebounds and a team high three assists in his first start of the season. Carter saw a season high of 34 minutes while finishing with a season best three shots from beyond the arc.
 
He also sunk both of his free throws.
 
Junior guard Drew Bender led the Pioneers with four assists, three steals and 35 minutes off the bench. He added nine points and two rebounds while sinking a season best three jumpers from three-point range.
 
Freshman Druce Asah chipped in five points, four rebounds and two steals.
 
Senior forward Lamine Mbodj completed the game with four points and three rebounds.
 
Although the Crusaders dominated the Pioneers in paint points 34-12, East Bay outscored Northwest Nazarene in points off turnovers 20-12, second chance points 17-3 and bench points 36-10.
 
CSUEB also controlled the rebounding advantage 36-30. The Pioneers grabbed 18 offensive and defensive rebounds apiece.
 
East Bay fourth year head coach Gus Argenal is proud of the confidence his team is playing with throughout the early portion of this road trip.
 
"It was important that we came out and played well to kick off this tournament," said Argenal. "These wins are huge for us as we continue to build momentum on our early road trip. We must continue to come out aggressive both offensively and defensively and impose our will on out opponents."
 
Maurice Jones led the Crusaders with 17 points and eight rebounds. Bouna N'Diaye added 14 points and four rebounds for Northwest Nazarene.
 
Four players from each team were ejected following a bench clearing incident with two minutes to go in the first half. East Bay's Juwan Anderson and Northwest Nazarene Jalen Shepherd will sit out their team's games on Saturday as they must each serve mandatory one-game suspensions.
 
The Pioneers square off against the Academy of Art Urban Knights in their second game of the Mac Martin Invitational on Saturday evening November 26. The game will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Art Acker Gymnasium on the campus of Chico State.