POMONA, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team came up just short Saturday night in its bid to upset Cal Poly Pomona, falling 59-51 on the road to the first-place Broncos. 

One night after nearly erasing a 24-point deficit at Cal State San Bernardino, the Pioneers once again fell just short against a talented California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) foe, dropping their record to 6-8 for the season with a 2-6 mark in conference games.

East Bay did several things well in one of their toughest road tests of the season. The team defended well, holding the Broncos under 60 points on 42.6 percent shooting from the field. They also limited their turnovers and won the rebounding battle over Pomona, 37 to 33.

However, the home team had enough success behind the arc, going 10-for-17 (58.8 percent) to hold off an CSUEB attempts at a scoring run. And the Pioneers simply couldn't string enough buckets together to erase their relatively small deficit. East Bay finished the game shooting just 34 percent from the field including 6-for-23 from long range (23.1 percent).

CPP jumped out an advantage an led by as many as as eight early in the first half. But East Bay's defense was solid, giving them a chance to keep the game tight. A jumper by Jordan Balser and a free throw by Keshawn Bruner in the final seconds before halftime sent the Pioneers into the break trailing by just three.

The Broncos' lead was just one or two possessions nearly the entire second half, and if just a few more East Bay shots had fallen, the result may have been different. The Pioneers even tied the score twice in the final seven minutes. But after Druce Asah hit a shirt jumper to make it 48-48, Pomona answered with four straight buckets to extend their lead to nine, their largest of the night. East Bay wasn't able to come back from that as the Broncos sealed the game at the foul line.

Patrick Marr had an outstanding night, notching his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds on 5-for-6 shooting from the floor. Kyle Frakes also reached double figures, adding 11 points on 4-for-6 from the field.

Asah contributed 10 points despite a tough shooting night. Juwan Anderson turned in nine points, all of which came from beyond the arc, where he finished 3-for-8. 

This was another inspired effort from a CSUEB team that has at times looked impressive against extremely high quality competition. The Pioneers will hope to find a bit more offensive consistency when they return home to Pioneer Gym to start the new year on Tuesday, Jan. 2 against Sonoma State.