HAYWARD, Calif., -- The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team will return to Hayward for a pair of tough California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) contests against Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona.
 
East Bay is currently ranked first in the CCAA league standings with a 16-3 overall record with an 11-2 mark in league play. CSUEB is nationally ranked at No. 22 in the NABC Coaches Poll this week for the first time since returning to Division II.
 
The Pioneers remain unbeaten at home at 9-0 and are on their fourth four game win streak of the season.
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Cal State East Bay men's hoop team pulled off their second straight California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) overtime victory with a 69-62 road win over Stanislaus State Saturday night, January 26 in Turlock.
 
The Pioneers are now 11-2 in league play with a 16-3 overall mark on the season as they closed the final minutes on overtime with a 7-2 run.
 
Reigning CCAA Player of the Week, Ant Navarrete (San Lorenzo, Calif.) paced the Pioneers with 13 points and a career best 15 rebounds with two blocks. Navarrete now has five double-doubles on the season and has notched double-figures in four consecutive games.
 
Sophomore Nai Carlisle (West Lafayette, Ind.) tallied a team-high 16 points on 4-for-6 from three-point range. Carlisle finished with three rebounds, three assists and a steal in 40 minutes of action. He is averaging 16.2 points and 3.2 rebounds with 10 made three-pointers.
 
Senior point guard Juwan Anderson (Oakland, Calif.) compiled 14 points with a team best five assist and two steals through 40 minutes. Anderson has notched double figure scoring and at least five assists through the Pioneers last four outings.
 
East Bay performed well on the glass as they out rebounded Stan State 46-39 for the game. Senior Evan Wardlow (Lake View Terrance, Calif.) corralled eight rebounds to go with his six points. Fellow senior Patrick Marr (Clayton, Calif.) pulled in seven boards and four points. Both Wardlow and Marr went a perfect 2-for-2 from the foul line.
 
Deiondre Bird (Portland, Ore.) scored four points and grabbed five rebounds to lead the Pioneer reserves. Justin Vigil (Fall River Mills, Calif.) added five points through seven minutes off the bench. Trent Warren (Melbourne, Australia) knocked down all four of his foul shots as he finished with four points.
 
 
 
 
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 of the last 11 games, while averaging 5.6 rebounds per game during that span as well. Wardlow is scoring 13.1 points per game in CCAA play thus far, second best on the team and 15th 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 seventh-leading scorer in the CCAA during league games, averaging 14.4 points per game. The Indiana native has been incredibly efficient this season, shooting 52 percent from the field and 49 percent from long distance.
 
Senior Juwan Anderson second in the conference in assists per game with 4.5 (81) and continues to rank second in assist-turnover ratio (2.4). He's also shooting 88.6 percent from the foul line, which is first in the league and tied for 38th in the nation. Anderson has made 70 of 79 shots from the foul line this season.
 
Ant Navarrete is leading the Pioneers in rebounding and second in field goal percentage. Navarrete is sixth in the league with 7.1 rebounds per contest and fifth in the CCAA shooting 51.3 percent from the field. He is averaging 12.1 points per game after scoring in double figures in nine of the last 12 games including double digit scoring in four straight outings. Navarrete was named CCAA and CSUEB Player of the Week last week, after leading the Pioneers in scoring 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 CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO
The Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes enter the contest against he Pioneers with a 12-8 overall record on the season with an 8-6 mark in league action after falling to SF State before defeating Sonoma State last week. Daytone Jennings is leading San Bernardino with 13.8 points and 7.9 rebounds. Garrett Baggett is adding 13.4 points and 2.5 assists for the Coyotes. East Bay defeated San Bernardino 82-79 on January 12 inside Coussoulis Arena.
 
SCOUTING CAL POLY POMONA
The Cal Poly Pomona Broncos come into the matchup with East Bay carrying a 10-5 overall mark on the season with an 8-5 standing in CCAA action after a double overtime win over Sonoma State and a victory over San Francisco State to close the weekend. William Christmas is leading the Broncos with 16.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Jordan Ogundiran is adding 10.3 points and 3.7 assists per game for Cal Poly Pomona. The Broncos defeated the Pioneers 68-56 on January 10 in Kellogg Arena.