BERKELEY, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team saw its first action of the 2018-19 season on Tuesday night, falling to California by a final score of 82-62 in an exhibition game at Haas Pavilion.

The Pioneers struggled to get shots to fall in the early going, as Cal jumped out to an 18-8 lead in the opening minutes. But they gave the Division I Bears a good battle the rest of the way. 

CSUEB trailed by 11 at halftime despite shooting just 30.8 percent from the field. The Pioneers found their groove somewhat in the second half, refusing to allow Cal to pull away. They shot 42.4 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, and if they had fared a bit better from three-point range, the final score might have been quite close. 

The talented Cal squad shot 62 percent in the second half and 55 percent for the evening to quell any hopes East Bay had of pulling off an upset.

All 15 active Pioneers saw action in the exhibition contest, which will be the team's only competitive tune-up before opening the regular season next weekend. 

Junior newcomer Nai Carlisle finished as CSUEB's leading scorer with 13 points, 11 of which came before halftime. He hit his first three attempts from long distance and finished 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. 

Senior Juwan Anderson notched 10 points -- all of which came in the second half -- to go along with a pair of assists. Senior transfer Evan Wardlow had an impactful debut despite going just 4-for-13 from the field, finishing with nine points and five boards in a team-high 32 minutes.

John Duff matched Wardlow with a team-best five rebounds, and the redshirt freshman added eight points on 3-for-4 shooting.

Junior Ant Navaratte also impressed in his first game donning the red and black, scoring nine points on 4-for-6 from the floor in 22 minutes.  Senior Patrick Marr contributed seven points, all coming in the second half.

The Pioneers are now 10 days from their official season opener, which will take place at home during the Veterans Day Classic in Hayward. East Bay battles Academy of Art on Friday, Nov. 9 in the final game of the day at 7:30 p.m.