HAYWARD, Calif., -- After protecting home court through a pair of tough league opponents, the Cal State East Bay men's basketball team will hit the road for a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) match against Stanislaus State on Saturday, January 26 In Turlock at the ED & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena.
 
The Pioneers continued what has been the best start for CSUEB as members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with a 15-3 mark. Their 10-2 conference record is the program's best ever through ten CCAA games, and it's the first time they've won 14 out of 17 games at any point during the CCAA era. East Bay is also 9-0 in home games this season.
 
For their success, East Bay moved in the No. 4 in this week's D2SIDA West Region Media Poll, the program's highest ranking since the poll was created. The Pioneers received votes (10) in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II national top-25 poll.
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team held off visiting Humboldt State on Thursday night to earn an 88-78 victory at Pioneer Gymnasium.
 
This is the first time the Pioneers have beaten Humboldt State in five years, and they did it in impressive fashion. East Bay never trailed in the game after jumping out to a quick 7-0 lead. They were hot from three-point range early in the contest, getting contributions from everyone in the lineup. They led 19-5 after a triple by Patrick Marr, made it 22-7 after another three by Ant Navarrete, and grabbed their biggest advantage of the game at 30-13 after Nai Carlisle knocked one down from beyond the arc.
 
Navarrete carried CSUEB's offense early in the game and kept his hot hand going throughout the night. The junior scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the first half and finished 10-for-16 from the field.
 
The talented HSU squad finally found their groove a bit and chipped away at their deficit over the last eight minutes of the first half. This culminated with a 12-4 run by the Jacks to end the half, sending the teams to intermission with the Pioneers leading by nine.
 
The visitors went on yet another 12-4 to open the second half, cutting CSUEB's lead to just one after a jumper by reigning CCAA Player of the Week Justin Everett. The Jacks appeared to have all the momentum, but it was shot-lived thanks to big plays by John Duff and Juwan Anderson. Anderson found Duff under the basket in transition on the next possession, and the redshirt freshman slammed it home. Duff then blocked Everett's layup on the other end and got the ball ahead to Carlisle, who passed it to Anderson trailing, and the senior buried a three. After it briefly looked like Humboldt was about to take control, one minute later the Pioneer were back up six.
 
East Bay never looked back after that and took care of business at the free throw line down the stretch to seal the double-digit victory. They shot 50 percent from the field as a team and out-rebounded the Jacks 41-34 overall.
 
Five different Pioneers reached double figures in scoring, led by Navarrete. Carlisle added 15, Anderson and Marr scored 12 each, and Evan Wardlow finished with 11. Trent Warren contributed nine points off the bench, going 2-for-3 from long distance.
 
Navarrete, Wardlow, and Marr tallied seven rebounds apiece to tie for the team lead. Anderson paced the squad with five assists, and Wardlow added four to go along with a team-high three steals.
 
A 2018-19 season that has been full of highlights for the Cal State East Bay men's basketball team added another to the reel on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers defeated Chico State in overtime by a final score of 80-72.
 
It was the first time CSUEB has topped the Wildcats since February of 2011, and it continues what has been a remarkable season so far in Hayward. The Pioneers have now won three straight after sweeping their home stand this week, and they remain unbeaten in Pioneer Gymnasium this season.
 
It was a particularly special night for East Bay because for the first time during the regular season, they had their entire team together at Pioneer Gym. They were joined on the bench for the first time by junior Ben Wood, who has been undergoing treatment for a rare form of bone cancer throughout the school year. In honor of Ben's fight and to help raise awareness fo osteosarcoma, both coaching staffs wore sneakers in partnership with Coaches vs. Cancer.
 
The presence of Wood and freshman Julian Garcia, who is redshirting this season following heart surgery, perhaps gave the Pioneers a lift against a Chico State squad that handed them a 59-45 loss when the teams met in Chico a month ago.
 
The Wildcats boasted a significant size advantage in the front court, and that manifested immediately as Chico's Justin Briggs opened the game by scoring 16 of Chico's first 20 points. But the Pioneers were up to the task, taking care of the ball and using their possessions efficiently. Nai Carlisle, Ant Navarrete, and Evan Wardlow all had hot hands early as the Pioneers battled Chico shot for shot. They went into halftime leading by six.
 
The Wildcats opened overtime with a three-pointer, but it was all Pioneers after that. Juwan Anderson made a pair of tough, driving layups to get within one, then Carlisle buried a three in the corner to put CSUEB ahead. Two possessions later, Anderson's pull-up triple was the dagger to put the Pioneers up seven.
 
Carlisle finished 3-for-5 from long distance and 7-for-10 overall to score a team-high 18 points. Navarrete added 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting to go along with seven rebounds.
 
After a relatively quiet first half, Anderson made a number of huge plays for the Pioneers in the closing minutes. The senior tallied 15 points, dished out eight assists, and notched four steals. Wardlow was the fourth Pioneer in double figures with 13 points and a team-high eight boards.
 
John Duff contributed six points and six rebounds along with strong defense off the bench. Fellow redshirt freshman Justin Vigil was impactful as well, scoring six points in just eight minutes.
 
PIONEER POINTS
Sophomore Nai 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.
 
After reaching double digits just once in the first seven games of the season, Wardlow has now scored in double figures in ten straight games, while averaging 5.4 rebounds per game during that span as well. Wardlow is scoring 13.7 points per game in CCAA play thus far, second best on the team and tenth in the league. He was named back-to-back CSUEB Player of the Week after scoring 21 points, going 8-for-12 from the field. He also led the team with seven rebounds, dished out four assists, and went 2-for-3 from long distance. Followed by a season-high 23 points, going 9-for-14 from the field and 5-for-6 from long distance, his best career effort from three-point range. For that week, he averaged 17.5 points and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 54 percent from the floor and going 7-for-11 from beyond the arc.
 
Carlisle is the ninth-leading scorer in the CCAA during league games, averaging 14.1 points per game. The Indiana native has been incredibly efficient this season, shooting 53 percent from the field and 47 percent from long distance.
 
Senior Juwan Anderson second in the conference in assists per game with 4.5 (76) and continues to rank second in assist-turnover ratio (2.3). He's also shooting 91.5 percent from the foul line, which is first in the league and tied for ninth in the nation. Anderson has made 65 of 71 shots from the foul line this season.
 
Ant Navarrete is leading the Pioneers in rebounding and second in field goal percentage. Navarrete is eighth in the league with 6.6 rebounds per contest and fifth in the CCAA shooting 52.5 percent from the field. He is averaging 12.1 points per game after scoring in double figures in eight of the last 11 games while also being tied for fourth on the team with 19 steals. Navarrete was named CCAA and CSUEB Player of the Week after leading the Pioneers in scorering for the men's hoops team this past week averaging 20.0 points and 7.0 rebounds, shot 62 percent, and went 3-for-6 from three-point range.
 
SCOUTING STANISLAUS STATE
The Stanislaus State Warriors enter the match up against the Pioneers with a 7-9 record on the season with a 4-8 mark in conference action after defeating SF State before falling to Sonoma State last week. Andy Cleaves leads the Warriors with 15.4 points and 5.1 rebounds. Ty Davis is chipping in 13.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and a league-leading 5.6 assists per contest.
 
The Pioneers defeated Stanislaus State 63-59 on January 3 inside Pioneer Gymnasium.