HAYWARD, Calif. – Senior forward Micah Dunhour stepped up to the free throw line and knocked down two foul shots to give the Cal State East Bay men's basketball an 86-84 victory over Cal State L.A. on Monday night, December 19 in Pioneer Gymnasium.
 
The Cal State L.A. Golden Eagles (6-6, 2-2 CCAA) battled back from a 20-point lead early in the second half to tie the game at 84-84 with 00:28 left to play in the game.
 
Micah Dunhour then drove through the lane and drew a foul that led to the game winning free throws.
 
Five Pioneers scored in double figures and three players dished out five assists apiece to help CSUEB improve to 9-2 on the season and 3-1 in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) action.
 
The Pioneers nine wins before Christmas matches the season total from 2015-16, which was an improvement from the previous year.
 
East Bay won their lone home conference game of December after playing nine straight contests on the road.
 
Dunhour tied the team lead with 17 points and five assists. He added six rebounds while shooting 4-for-5 from the charity stripe.
 
Dunhour played a team high 37 minutes of action and now has nine consecutive double digit scoring efforts.
 
Sophomore point guard Juwan Anderson also tallied 17 points and collected five assists. He shot 4-for-6 from the floor, including tying a season high with three made three-pointers. Anderson led East Bay with two steal while going a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line.
 
Senior Jalen Richard continued his got streak with 16 points, 12 in the first half, on 4-for-6 shooting accuracy from the field, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Richard grabbed a team-best seven rebounds, distributed out five assists and corralled one steal.
 
Freshman wing Druce Asah put in 16 points on a team-high four made three-point baskets. Asah added two rebounds on 6-for-10 shooting from the field. He scored 14 of his 16 points after intermission to keep the Pioneers ahead of the surging Golden Eagles.
 
Junior center Kyle Frakes poured in 12 points, four rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal for East Bay. Frakes went 5-for-6 from the floor, including a handful of powerful dunks.
 
Senior Pierre Carter led the Pioneer bench with five points, two rebounds and an assist in 25 minutes.
Junior Drew Bender chipped in three points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal. Bender sunk his lone three-point attempt of the night.
 
East Bay controlled the battle on the inside out rebounding Cal State L.A. 27-25 and outscoring the Golden Eagles 28-26 on points in the paint.
 
The Pioneers shot 52.8 percent from the floor for the game and 52 percent from three-point land, including 60 percent in the second half. CSUEB also shot a perfect 1.000 percent on their free throws in the second half.
 
Fourth year head coach Gus Argenal was proud of how his team battled at home after a long road trip.
 
"Cal State L.A. is really well coached with a lot of talent and they played hard tonight," Argenal said. "They gave us all we could handle and made some tough shots down the stretch to make the game extremely close. But I'm proud of our guys, we stuck together and fought off a run late in the game by making some winning plays."
 
Travis Hammonds led the Golden Eagles with 20 points and three rebounds. Jordan Nelson-Brown added 11 points and three assists for Cal State L.A.
 
The Pioneers will finish off the calendar year with a CCAA road trip to face off against Humboldt State on Friday, December 30 in Lumberjack Arena in Arcata and square off against Sonoma State on Saturday, December 31 in the Wolves' Den in Rohnert Park. Tip off for both games will be at 7:30 p.m.