HAYWARD, Calif. -- After a stretch of road games that spanned more than a month, the Cal State East Bay men's basketball team returns home this week to kick off the new year with a pair of contests at Pioneer Gym. CSUEB hosts conference rival Stanislaus State Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. before taking on West Coast Baptist in the team's final non-conference game of the season Saturday at 4 p.m.

WEEK IN REVIEW
The Pioneers have only played twice since December 8 -- an impressive road win at SF State before the holiday break and a seven-point victory at Cal State Monterey Bay this past Sunday in their most recent game. 

East Bay did not shoot the ball particularly well against the winless Otters, but they won the rebounding battle, forced 18 turnovers, and led by as many as 20 in a contest that was never really in doubt. Nai Carlisle led the way with 17 points and Ant Navarrete notched his fourth double-double with 12 points and 12 boards.

STILL STREAKING
The win over CSUMB continued what has been the best start for the Pioneers as members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Their 6-1 conference record is the program's best ever through seven CCAA games, and it's the first time they've won 10 out of 12 games at any point during the CCAA era.

TERRIFIC TRANSFERS
Carlisle and senior Evan Wardlow both joined the Pioneers this season as transfers from Division I schools, and both have been crucial additions -- particularly in conference play. Carlisle is the third-leading scorer in the CCAA during league games, averaging 15.6 points per game. The Indiana native has been incredibly efficient this season, shooting 53 percent from the field and 48 percent from long distance following his 3-for-3 performance on three-pointers in Seaside. 

After reaching double digits just once in the first seven games of the season, Wardlow has now scored in double figures in five straight games, while averaging 5.8 rebounds per game during that span as well. Wardlow is scoring 12.0 points per game in CCAA play thus far, second-best on the team.

STAT LEADERS
Much of CSUEB's success had been built on the defensive end, where the Pioneers rank third in the conference and 19th in the nation allowing just 65.0 points per game. Their rebounding margin and turnover margin are both very solid, but most notably, East Bay has been the best team in all of Division II at defending the three-point line. Teams are shooting just 26.4 percent from three against them, the lowest mark in the nation.

Senior Juwan Anderson notched four assists at CSUMB. He now leads the conference in assist-turnover ratio and continues to rank second among CCAA players in assists per game (trailing only Ty Davis of Stanislaus, whom East Bay will see on Thursday). He's also shooting 92.3 percent from the foul line, which is second in the league and No. 14 in the nation. Anderson is currently on a streak of 17 straight made free throws, dating back to Nov. 29.

SCOUTING STANISLAUS
The Warriors won their first three games of the season and have lost six out of seven since then, although the one victory was an impressive one at Cal Poly Pomona. They're 11th in the CCAA with a .412 team field goal percentage and are being out-scored by four points per game overall. Vasilije Saraba leads Stanislaus averaging 15.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, and Davis is having an excellent season at 14.5 ppg on 46.6 percent shooting.

ABOUT WEST COAST BAPTIST
The Eagles, who compete in the National Christian College Athletic Association, are winless in 13 games, although several of their losses are to NCAA or NAIA teams. West Coast Baptist has three players scoring in double figures, led by Seth Hanna at 18.1 ppg. Nic Corl contributes 14.2 ppg and leads the team averaging 7.5 rebounds.