HAYWARD, Calif., -- The Pioneer men's basketball squad head on their first California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) road trip of the 2018 year with local matchups against San Francisco State and Sonoma State. The Pioneers finished their four-game home stand with a 2-2 mark.
 
LAST ACTION
The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team's two game home win streak was snapped after falling to Cal State San Marcos, 79-71 in Pioneer Gymnasium on Thursday night, January 11.
 
With the loss the Pioneers move to 8-9 on the season and 4-7 in California Collegiate Athletic Corporation (CCAA) action. The Cougars outscored East Bay 56-35 after the intermission on 53.5% shooting from the field including 6-for-13 (46.1%) from long distance.
 
The Pioneers first half defense was stout as they held San Marcos to 7-for-30 (23.3%) shooting from the floor and 2-for-9 (22.2%) accuracy from three-point range. East Bay was in control of the game for 27 minutes of the contest, claiming a 36-23 halftime lead. The Pioneers would take their largest lead of the contest, 21 points at the 13:34 mark in the second half. The Cougars would go on two different 12-0 runs to climb back into the game.
 
Despite the outcome of the outing, several Pioneers turned in nice performances. Sophomore guard Druce Asah (Tracy, Calif.) led East Bay with 14 points and seven rebounds. Asah is leading CSUEB with 13.7 points per game in conference play. Senior guard Drew Bender (Phoenix, Ariz.) also put in a team leading 14 points and three assists. Bender tallied one steal while going 5-for-6 from the foul line.
 
East Bay dominated San Marcos in the painted area out rebounding the Cougars 41-32 and notching a 40-24 advantage in paint points. The Pioneers reserves contributed to 28 points to just three points from the Cougar bench.
 
Freshman Keshawn Bruner (Sacramento, Calif.) led East Bay with 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field on 23 minutes off the bench. Bruner added five rebounds and two block. Sophomore Jordan Balser (Auburn, Calif.) chipped in nine points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal on 4-for-6 shooting from the floor.
 
Overall, the Pioneer shot 43.1% (28-for-65) from the field but also tied for their second worst shooting night of the season after a 5-for-25 (20%) showing from beyond the three-point arc, including a 1-for-10 showing in the opening half.
 
However, East Bay also tied for their second best shooting performance from the charity stripe going 10-for-12 (83.3%) for the contest.
 
Junior guard Juwan Anderson (Oakland, Calif.) notched 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting to go along with five rebounds, an assist, a steal and two blocks in 28 minutes.
 
The Pioneer men's basketball squad found themselves on the losing end of a tightly contested, 73-68 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) showdown against UC San Diego Saturday evening, January 13 in Pioneer Gymnasium.
 
Cal State East Bay falls to 8-10 on the season and 4-8 in conference action after dropping consecutive game to teams in the top three of the CCAA standings.
 
Despite the loss, the dynamic duo of Kyle Frakes (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Juwan Anderson (Oakland, Calif.) both turned in career performances. Frakes posted career highs with 21 points and 12 rebounds on 10-for-11 shooting from the field to lead the Pioneers. He also racked up a team high three blocks. Anderson dished out a career best 10 assists to go along with seven points and two rebounds in 34 minutes of game action. Anderson connected with Frakes on four consecutive first half baskets, including a pair a crowd rousing dunks to help the Pioneers claim an early lead.
 
Both teams would enter the intermission locked at 31-31. The tremendous East Bay defense held the Tritons to just 37% (10-for-27) shooting accuracy from the floor in the first half. UC San Diego was able to keep the game close by knocking down four of their eight attempts from long distance while East Bay failed to convert any of their three three-point field goal tries.
 
For the second straight outing the Pioneers dominated in the painted area. East Bay out rebounded UC San Diego 37-30 and outscored the Tritons in the painted area 40-26. The Pioneers did however shoot 46.1% (12-for-26) from the field in the opening half and improved their second half accuracy to the tune of 48.2% (14-for-29).
 
The Achilles heel for the Pioneers came at the charity stripe. East Bay, one of the top shooting teams in the conference from the free throw line shot just 65% (13-for-20) for the evening.
 
The Pioneers would still boast a 11-point second half lead with 13:21 left in the game but the Tritons would go on an 8-0 run to pull within one basket of East Bay. UC San Diego would also close the game 7-0 run in the final 1:17 to come away with the victory.
 
Senior guard Drew Bender (Phoenix, Ariz.) notched 14 points, four rebounds and an assist on a team high 36 minutes of action. Freshman Keshawn Bruner (Sacramento, Calif.) recorded his first start of the season and finished with five points, seven rebounds and one impressive throw down slam in traffic.
 
The East Bay reserves out scored the UC San Diego bench 18-15 led by six points and two rebounds from Druce Asah (Tracy, Calif.). Jelani Mitchell (Pasadena, Calif.) chipped in five points and four rebounds in 23 minutes while Patrick Marr (Clayton, Calif.) added five points and two rebounds.
 
PIONEER POINTS
Cal State East Bay is sixth in the CCAA in free throwing shooting with 268 made foul shots on 72.6% accuracy as a team. The Pioneers have also been dominant in rebounding averaging 37.6 rebounds per outing, good for second in the conference. CSUEB is also second in the CCAA in rebounding defense (31.3) and offensive rebounds (12.2).
 
Sophomore Druce Asah (Tracy, Calif.) leads the Pioneers with 12.3 points per contest. Asah has started in 17 games and has 12 games with 10 or more points. He is leading the Pioneers in scoring during conference games with 13.1 points in 39.0% shooting from the field. Asah is grabbing 4.2 rebounds with two blocks and eight steals so far on the season.
 
Asah also leads East Bay with 38 made three-points with a 39.2% shooting clip from long distance.
 
Senior guard Drew Bender (Phoenix, Ariz.) is notching 12.3 points per game. Bender is adding 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists on 39.8% shooting from the field with 12 double figure scoring outings including four consecutive double digit scoring games since the start of 2018.
 
Freshman Keshawn Bruner (Sacramento, Calif.) is leading the East Bay reserves in scoring with 7.3 points and 3.8 rebounds in 20.6 minutes. Bruner is second on the team shooting 48.5% from the field and an impressive 46.7% from three-point range.
 
Junior guard Juwan Anderson (Oakland, Calif.) is tops on the team and second in the conference with 4.8 assists per contest. His 87 total assists are second best in the CCAA. Anderson is chipping in 8.8 points and 2.6 rebounds. His 29.8 minutes per outing in leading the squad as well as his 18 steals. He has 12 games with at least four assists and he dished out a career best 10 assists vs. UC San Diego.
SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO STATE
The SF State Gators are currently sitting 10-7 on the season with a 7-5 mark in CCAA play. They are coming off back-to-back wins over Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A. Warren Jackson is leading the Gators with 15.2 points and 3.9 assists. Evan Zeller is adding 14.4 points and 2.7 rebounds for SF State. The Pioneers fell to the Gators, 83-79 in overtime on November 21 in Pioneer Gymnasium.
 
SCOUTING SONOMA STATE
The Sonoma State Seawolves are 7-8 overall and 5-6 in CCAA action. They are coming off wins over Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills. Armani Nicolis is leading the Seawolves with 13.1 points and 5.4 rebounds. Jordan Hickman is chipping in 9.9 points and 4.3 rebounds. East Bay defeated Sonoma State, 77-66 on January 2 in Pioneer Gymnasium.