SEASIDE, Calif., -- The Pioneer men's basketball squad continued their strong start to the season with a 79-72 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay Sunday afternoon, December 30 in the Kelp Bed.
 
Cal State East Bay improves to 6-1 start in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and 5-2 on the road. CSUEB is off to a 10-2 start which is the best start in school history. CSUEB also collect two points in the "Battle of the Bays."
 
Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the game as both teams finished south of 40% for the contest. The Pioneers did however start the game off hot, shooting 43.2% from the field in the opening half. Although East Bay took their biggest lead of 20 points early in the second half, it would be Monterey Bay who would catch fire after the intermission.
 
Sophomore Nai Carlisle (West Lafayette, Ind.) paced the Pioneers with 17 points while going a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the three-point line. Carlisle finished the outing shooting 4-for-9 from the field and 6-for-88 from the foul line. He added four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Carlisle has now scored in double figures in nine of the Pioneers 12 games.
 
Junior Ant Navarrete (San Leandro, Calif.) captured his team-leading fourth double-double of the season. Navarrete finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, including ten defensive rebounds while tying the game-high with three steals.
 
The stout Cal State East Bay defense forced Monterey Bay into 18 turnovers while securing a season-high 12 steals while scoring 21 points off the home team's miscues.
 
Senior Evan Wardlow (Lake View Terrance, Calif.) compiled his fifth consecutive double figure scoring outing with 10 points through 30 minutes of action. Wardlow shot an impressive 4-for-5 from the free throw line while adding four rebounds, an assist and tying Navarrete with a game best three steals.
 
Senior point guard Juwan Anderson (Oakland, Calif.) finished with nine points and a team best four assists. Anderson now has seven games with at least four assists. He tallied four rebounds and two steals while going a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
 
Cal State East Bay was dominant inside the painted area as they outrebounded Monterey Bay 45-39 for the game. Those 45 rebounds marked a new season high as the Pioneers were narrowly outscored by the Otters in the paint, 30-28.
 
CSUEB notched season high's in both free throws attempted with 41 and free throws made with 29. East Bay shot 71% from the foul line as a team. The Cal State East Bay reserves also came through huge outscoring the Otters bench 28-11.
 
Junior Trent Warren (Melbourne, Australia) lead the East Bay bench with seven points, two rebounds and an assists through 17 minutes of action. Warren finished 5-for-7 from the free throw line. Freshman John Duff (Los Angeles, Calif.) also had a productive evening with four points five rebounds and a block in only eight minutes on the court.
 
The Pioneers will enter 2019 with games against Stanislaus State on Thursday night, January 3. East Bay will wrap up the weekend with their final non-conference contest of the season against West Coast Baptist on Saturday afternoon, January 5.