SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team was unable to overcome a poor shooting performance on Thursday night, falling on the road to Cal State San Marcos by a final score of 63-59.

The loss snaps a five-game win streak for the Pioneers (21-6, 16-5 CCAA), and more importantly, drops them back into a tie for first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings with both Cal Poly Pomona and UC San Diego.

Low-scoring affairs often favor the Pioneers, who have been one of the better defensive teams in the league this season, but they simply couldn't convert enough offensive possessions down the stretch on this night.

The game was extremely tight early and remained a one-possession contest virtually the entire first half. A three-pointer by Nai Carlisle just before the buzzer sent the Pioneers into intermission with a narrow 32-20 lead.

But after shooting a modest 41 percent in the opening half, East Bay went cold over the final 20 minutes. They shot 29 percent and made just nine field goals after halftime, going 1-for-15 from three-point range over that span. The Cougars took advantage and built their lead up to eight points with just six minutes left to play.

As they've done successfully all season, the Pioneers didn't panic and quickly chipped away at that deficit. Two buckets by Juwan Anderson got them back within three, then with 45 seconds left, Carlisle scored in the paint to cut the deficit to two. East Bay then forced a turnover on defense and had a scoring chance in transition as the game clock ticked inside 20 seconds. Carlisle drove hard towards the bucket and dished the ball to Evan Wardlow at the last second, but Carlisle was whistled for an offensive foul on the play.

CSUEB's defense forced yet another turnover with 15 seconds left, and then both Carlisle and Anderson had shot attempts that would've tied the game, but neither could get it to fall. 

Carlisle scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Anderson and Ant Navarrete tallied 11 points each, while Wardlow added nine points and seven boards.

A win tonight would have clinched at least a share of the CCAA regular season championship for the first time in program history, but instead the conference title will be on the line Saturday when the Pioneers visit UCSD for the regular season finale at 7:30 p.m.