HAYWARD, Calif., -- After kicking off 2019 with a pair of home win, the Cal State East Bay men's basketball team will embark on a tough California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) road trek with games against Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday, January 10 and Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday, January 12.
 
The Pioneers continued what has been the best start for the Pioneers as members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with a 12-2 mark. Their 7-1 conference record in the program's best ever through eight CCAA games, and it's the first time they've won 11 out of 13 games at any point during the CCAA era.

For their success, East Bay moved up a couple spots to No. 6 in this week's D2SIDA West Region Media Poll, the program's highest ranking since the poll was created. And for the first time in the CCAA era, the Pioneers received votes 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 continued its unprecedented start to the season by earning a dramatic comeback victory over Stanislaus State, 63-59, Thursday night at Pioneer Gym.
 
It did not appear to be East Bay's night for much of Thursday's contest. The Warriors quickly jumped out to a 17-6 advantage and led by as many as 12 in the first half. East Bay spent the last 30 minutes of game time chipping away at that deficit, but it was a slow process, as the Pioneers committed an uncharacteristically high number of turnovers and struggled to get shots to fall consistently.
 
Leading scorer Nai Carlisle took a hard fall early in the game and played just six minutes, which led the Pioneers to rely heavily on Evan Wardlow to carry the offense. Fortunately the senior was up to the task, finishing with a season-high 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting.
 
Stanislaus opened the game red hot and hit nearly 50 percent of their field goals in the first half, but the Pioneers were able to make some adjustments at the break and the Warriors' shooting percentage regressed to the mean down the stretch. The visitors went just 7-for-28 from the field and managed to score just 18 points after halftime, allowing East Bay to erase its deficit midway through the second half and take its first lead with eight minutes remaining.
 
Wardlow and Juwan Anderson buried three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put the Pioneers ahead 60-54 with just over three minutes left. But then a triple and a pair of free throws brought the visitors back within one. With 1:48 remaining, Wardlow drove past the defense and converted an easy layup to make it a three-point game. East Bay then stopped Stanislaus on their final three possessions to clinch the narrow victory.
 
Junior Trent Warren went 3-for-7 from long distance to finish with 12 points and five rebounds off the bench. Anderson also reached double figures, adding 11 points and six assists.
 
In the front court, Patrick Marr and Ant Navarrete scored five each, while John Duff contributed four points. Wardlow added four assists and a team-high seven rebounds to his 21-point effort, playing 39 of the 40 minutes for CSUEB.
 
The Cal State East Bay men's basketball program garnered a huge 103-29 victory over West Coast Baptist Saturday evening, January 5 inside Pioneer Gymnasium. It was exactly two years ago to the date since the Pioneers last crossed the century mark in a double overtime loss to Cal State San Marcos in Hayward.
 
East Bay wrapped up their non-conference schedule with 5-1 mark on the season as they improve to 12-2 on the year. The Pioneers remain a perfect 7-0 on games played inside Pioneer Gymnasium.
 
In all, Cal State East Bay had seven player score in double figures as they nearly shot 56% from the field as a team. CSUEB shot a season-best 47.8% from three-point range (11-for-23) while tying a season best with 11 made three-pointers. The East Bay defense held the visiting Eagles to just 28.9% shooting from the field for the contest. The Pioneers never trailed after the 15:35 mark if the first half as they took a 49-25 lead into the intermission.
 
Senior Patrick Marr (Clayton, Calif.) led the Pioneers with a season-best 19 points through only 15 minutes of action. Marr went 8-for-9 from the field while grabbing six rebounds and sinking all three of his foul shots.
 
Junior Ant Navarrete (San Lorenzo, Calif.) notched 14 points to go along with eight rebounds. Navarrete added two assists, a block and a steal on 6-for-10 shooting in 14 minutes of action. He also nailed his only two free throws on the contest.
 
Sophomore Brycen Wight (Oxnard, Calif.) poured in a season best 10 points in his first start of the year. Wight went 2-for-5 from three-point range with three rebounds and two assists while playing a team-best 25 minutes. He also netted a pair of foul shots.
 
The Pioneers bench accounted for 51 points towards the team's total. Justin Vigil (Fall River Mills, Calif.) notched his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds while drilling three of four three-pointers. Vigil played a well-rounded game contributing a season best three assists.
 
Junior Trent Warren (Melbourne, Australia) also knocked down a team-high three shots from beyond the arc. Warren finished with 11 points and two rebounds in 12 minutes on the floor.
 
Freshman Zack Perlstein (Vacaville, Calif.) scored 10 points while going an impressive 3-for-3 from the floor. Perlstein went a perfect 3-for-3 from the foul line with a team-high two steals to go along with two rebounds and an assist.
 
Junior Steven Daily (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) collected 10 points and four rebounds, both season bests. Daily added two assists and a rebound while making a team-high six foul shots.
 
East Bay compiled season high marks in points (103), field goals made (35), rebounds (57) and assists (27). The Pioneers scored 42 paint points including 23 points off 16 turnovers from West Coast Baptist.
 
Miles Crawford (Charlotte, N.C.) dished out a season-high six assists to go with five points, a steal and a rebound through 22 minutes. Juwan Anderson (Oakland, Calif.) tallied five assists and four point. It's Anderson's four consecutive games with at least four assists. Both Crawford and Anderson went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. 
 
Jesse Galloway (Long Beach, Calif.) chipped in five points and three assists across 20 minutes of action. John Duff (Los Angeles, Calif.) corralled a season-high nine rebounds 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. Carlisle is the tenth-leading scorer in the CCAA during league games, averaging 14.0 points per game. The Indiana native has been incredibly efficient this season, shooting 52 percent from the field and 47 percent from long distance.
 
After reaching double digits just once in the first seven games of the season, Wardlow has now scored in double figures in six straight 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. He was named 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.
 
Senior Juwan Anderson leads the conference in assist-turnover ratio (1.9) and continues to rank second among CCAA players in assists per game (4.2). He's also shooting 92.9 percent from the foul line, which is second in the league and tied for 10th in the nation. Anderson is currently on a streak of 21 straight made free throws, dating back to Nov. 29.
 
Ant Navarrete is leading the Pioneers in rebounding and field goal percentage. Navarrete is eighth in the league with 6.6 rebounds per contest and fourth in the CCAA shooting 53 percent from the field. He is averaging 11.6 points with after scoring in double figures in six of the last eight games while also being tied for the team-lead with 17 steals.
 
SCOUTING CAL POLY POMONA
The Cal Poly Pomona Broncos enter the match up against the Pioneers with a 5-4 overall mark and a 3-4 CCAA action after losses against Humboldt State and Cal State San Bernardino to begin the year. William Christmas is leading the Broncos with 14.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Jordan Ogundiran is chipping in 11.1 points, 3.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds per contest for Cal Poly Pomona.
 
SCOUTING CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO
The Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes are off to a 9-5 start to the season with a 5-3 record in conference play after back-to-back wins over Chico State to close 2018 and Cal Poly Pomona to open 2019. Daytone Jennings is tops on the Coyotes with 14.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Garrett Baggett is adding 13.7 points and 2.5 assists for Cal State San Bernardino.