HAYWARD, Calif. – Its Homecoming week on the campus of Cal State East Bay as the 2016-17 basketball schedule enters its home stretch. The Pioneer men's basketball team is looking to make a strong playoff push as they will host the visiting Sonoma State and SF State on Friday and Saturday evening.
 
CSUEB is still in the thick of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) postseason race with five regular season games remaining, looking to qualify for their first ever CCAA Tournament. Whether they do or not, these Pioneers have already had an historic season, becoming the winningest Cal State East Bay squad since 2008-09, and notching the most victories as a Division II program since 1997-98.
 
Friday's contest will feature an ASI-sponsored tailgate with free food outside Pioneer Gym starting at 4:30 p.m. CSUEB will also be holding its annual Homecoming Garage Sale with vintage Pioneer items available for purchase throughout the evening.
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Pioneers suffered two tough road losses, beginning the weekend with a 82-74 setback to Cal State San Bernardino in the contest that that featured four ties and 12 lead changes between the squads, as neither team lead by more than nine. Four Pioneers scored n double figures led by a team high 16 points from senior forward Micah Dunhour He added eight rebounds and an assist as he was limited to 13 minutes because of foul trouble.
 
The East Bay bench outscored the East Bay starters 47-27 and the Coyote bench 47-16. Pierre Carter tallied 12 points on 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc off the bench. Carter finished with two rebounds and an assist in 30 minutes of action.
 
In the second game of the weekend, East Bay shot just 32.7 percent from the field and went 4-for-17 from three-point range against a Triton squad that ranks fifth in the nation in scoring defense. UCSD complemented their stifling defense with a lights-out shooting performance. The Tritons shot 68 percent in the first half, finished at 55.8 percent for the game, and knocked down 12 of 27 attempts from three-point range.

The Pioneers actually led at the first media timeout of the first half, having jumped out to a 10-7 advantage behind two Paramvir Singh three-pointers. Singh finished with a team high 12 points.
 
PIONEER POINTS
East Bay continues to have two players in the top five in scoring in the CCAA with senior forward Micah Dunhour currently 3rd in the conference with 16.1 on 46.9 shooting from the field, which ranks 7th. He is also 10th in the CCAA grabbing 6.5 rebounds per outing. He is 9th in the conference with 31.2 minutes per game.
 
Dunhour leads East Bay with six double doubles on the season and has scored in double figures in 20 out of the Pioneers last 24 games. He is putting in 16.8 points per contest in conference play.
 
Senior guard Jalen Richard is 5th in the CCAA scoring at a 15.1 per game clip. He is 18th in the conference racking up 5.8 boards per contest. He sits 5th in the CCAA playing 32.8 minutes per game. Richard is also shooting 37.6 percent from three-point land, with is 4th in the conference.
 
Richard is 3rd in the CCAA in conference scoring with 16.9 points per outing and has scored in double figures in 16 of the last 21 East Bay games. He has moved to seventh all time in three-pointers made in a career with 111. He is 104 points away from becoming a top ten scorer in Pioneer history.
 
Sophomore point guard Juwan Anderson is 2nd in the CCAA with 5.0 assists and a 2.8 assist to turnover ratio, which leads the conference. Anderson has 110 assists and only 39 turnovers so far on the season. Anderson is within striking distance of the school season record of 150. He is averaging 5.0 assists in CCAA action.
 
Anderson is adding 7.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals. He is shooting 84.4 percent from the charity stripe.
 
Freshman wing Druce Asah is putting in a 11.1 points point game on 43.4 percent accuracy from the field, including 42.0 percent shooting from three-point range, 3rd in the CCAA. Asah is averaging 2.0 made three-pointers per outing.
 
Senior Pierre Carter is leading the Pioneer bench with 7.6 points and 3.0 rebounds on 39.3 percent shooting from the floor in 24.5 minutes of action per game.
 
Junior Drew Bender is propelling the Pioneer bench with 5.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Bender Leads the Pioneers shooting 85.7 percent from the free throw line.
 
Junior center Kyle Frakes leads East Bay, shooting 65.a percent from the field. Frakes is compiling 5.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest. Frakes has now moved into the top ten for career blocked shots (50) making him 8th all-time.
 
East Bay is 6th in the CCAA in scoring offense averaging 72.6 points per contest. The Pioneers are 10th in scoring defense also allowing 72.6 points from opponents.
 
The Pioneers are 8th in the CCAA in field goal percentage, shooting 43.3 percent from the floor as a team.
 
CSUEB is 4th in the conference with 194 three-pointers made so far this season and sits 4th in three-point field goal percentage defense holding opponents to 32.3 percent from long range.
 
East Bay is shooting 35.9 percent from beyond the arc, 6th in the CCAA. The Pioneers are averaging 8.4 made three-pointers per game, 4th in the conference.
 
The Pioneers are 7th in the conference in free throw percentage connecting on 69.8 percent of their foul shots as a team.
 
East Bay is also 7th in rebounding defense, grabbing 33.0 rebounds per game.
 
The Pioneers are 5th in the CCAA averaging 13.4 assists per game, with 300 total and are 7th in the conference with 5.8 steals per outing, including 135 total. 
 
SCOUTING SONOMA STATE
The Sonoma State Sea Wolves enter the weekend matchup with a 15-5 record, an 11-3 conference mark and the top ranked scoring defense in the nation. The Sea Wolves are coming off back-to-back wins over #20 Chico State 66-50 and Stanislaus State 56-47. Jimmy Golden leads Sonoma State with 12.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Luke Cochran is adding 8.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per outing for the Sea Wolves.
 
Sonoma State defeated East Bay 59-38 on December 31, 2016 in Santa Rosa, Calif.
 
SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO STATE
The San Francisco State Gators come into the meeting with the Pioneers with a 18-3 record and a 11-3 mark in CCAA action. The Gators won both of their home meetings last week over Stanislaus State 77-72 in overtime and 65-51 over #20 Chico State. Warren Jackson, who is the reigning CCAA played of the week, is leading the Gators with 15.6 points and 4.0 assists per outing. Coley Apsay is chipping in 12.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game for San Francisco State.
 
SF State notched 80-65 victory over the Pioneers on December 3, 2016 in the Swamp.