ARCATA, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team fell victim to a late second-half run by Humboldt State, as the Jacks secured an 87-75 win over the Pioneers on Thursday evening. 

The loss drops CSUEB to 8-15 for the season and 4-12 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), while HSU improves to 16-6 with a 10-6 mark in league play. 

The Jacks were in control of the game early, jumping out to a 23-8 lead after the opening tip. But the Pioneers didn't panic -- they slowly chipped away until Ryan Okwudibonye's put-back in the final seconds of the half sent East Bay into the break trailing by just five at 41-36. The senior finished with 14 points on 7-for-11 shooting before fouling out.

The game was extremely tight for the first 10 minutes of the second half as the squads traded baskets. With just under 11 minutes remaining, CSUEB clung to a 54-53 lead. 

Unfortunately for the visitors, Humboldt heated up after that point and grabbed control of the momentum. Over the next nine minutes, the Jacks went on a 32-11 run while two East Bay players fouled out of the game. HSU pulled away behind impressive efforts by Malik Morgan (11 assists) and Rakim Brown, who led all players with 33 points and made more free throws by himself (15) than the entire East Bay team (14). 

The Pioneers kept it tight most of the night despite being out-shot 56.0 percent to 41.5 percent from the field. They struggled as a team from three-point range (7-for-26), but they were strong on the glass. East Bay out-rebounded HSU 38 to 31 overall and took advantage of 14 offensive boards, which led to 16 second-chance points. 

Okwudibonye, Jalen Richards, and Jordan Balser all finished with 14 points to lead the squad. Okwudibonye and Richards both grabbed five rebounds, and Balser knocked down a pair of triples. 

Senior Alex Carmon, one week after scoring his 1,000th career point, also reached double figures with 11 points on 4-for-7 from the floor, and he pulled in six rebounds.

Sophomore Patrick Marr notched seven points and four rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench, while matching junior Tre Mauldin for the team lead with three assists. Mauldin and senior Jack Pasquini both scored five points, and Pasquini led all Pioneers with seven rebounds for the night.

With just four regular season games remaining, CSUEB is still in the hunt for a spot in the CCAA postseason tournament. Their next test is an extremely tough one, as the Pioneers have Friday off to travel before visiting No. 14 Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.