HAYWARD, Calif., -- The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team be kick off their 2018-19 season by hosting the Veteran's Day Classic Friday and Saturday, November 9-10 at Pioneer Gymnasium.
 
East Bay will begin the season with a game against Notre Dame De Namur on Friday, November 9 at 7:30 p.m. and round out the final game of the weekend with a contest against Holy Names on Saturday, November 10 at 7:30 p.m.
 
The Pioneers were picked to finished 11th in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Preseason Coaches Poll.
 
Under the leadership of second year head coach Bryan Rooney, the Pioneer look to improve on their record 2017-18 mark of 10-18 with a 6-16 record in conference action.
 
East Bay will boast a handful of returning players that had significant roles from last season's squad. Seniors Juwan Anderson (Oakland, Calif.), Deiondre Bird (Portland, Ore.) and Patrick Marr (Clayton, Calif.) along with sophomores Wyatt Maker (Salinas, Calif.) and Brycen Wight (Oxnard, Calif.) all look to play significant roles as returners.
 
Anderson finished second in the conference in assists while leading the CCAA in assist to turnover ratio while pacing the Pioneers with 28 starts and 27 total steals. Bird, Marr and Maker all played pivotal roles for Cal State East Bay last season with Bird leading with 18 starts. John Duff (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Justin Vigil (Fall River Mills, Calif.) will also look to impact CSUEB after red-shirting last season.
 
Newcomers Evan Wardlow (Lake View Terrace, Calif.), Nai Carlisle (West Lafayette, Ind.), Miles Crawford (Charlotte, N.C.), Ant Navarrete (San Lorenzo, Calif.), Steven Daily (Pleasant Hill, Calif.), Trent Warren (Melbourne, Australia), Jesse Galloway (Long Beach, Calif.) and Zack Perlstein (Vacaville, Calif.) will all look to contribute to the Pioneer attack on the court this season.
 
PIONEER POINTS
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.
 
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME DE NAMUR
The Notre Dame De Namur Argonauts were picked to finish 12th in the PacWest after a finishing the 2017-18 season with a 5-20 record with a 4-16 mark in conference action. Rodriguez "RJ" Louis and Chazz Wade return to the Argos as the leading scores from last year with 10.8 and 10.2 point per game averaged, respectively. They were also the leading assisters for NDNU. East Bay defeated Notre Dame De Namur, 71-68 last season in Belmont, CA.
 
SCOUTING HOLY NAMES
The Holy Names Hawks were tabbed for a 10th place finish in the PacWest after completing the 2017-18 campaign with a 11-20 record and 7-13 mark in conference play. Alonzo Taylor was HNU's leading scorer last season averaging 11.7 points-per-game and led the team with a .777 free throw percentage while Andre Green led HNU in two defensive categories, including blocks with 22 and steals with 41. Green also was HNU's top rebounder with 155 last season after starting all 31 games for the Hawks.