HAYWARD, Calif., -- For the first time in school history, Cal State East Bay men's basketball program has a chance to lace 'em up and compete for a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championship. It's important to note that this squad has already posted by far the program's most successful season as members of the CCAA.
 
East Bay earned the No. 3 seed in the their first-ever appearance in the CCAA Tournament after falling just one game short of capturing a share of the conference title. The Pioneers posting a 16-6 conference record and finishing 21-7 overall. They will host the No. 6 seed, Cal State Dominguez Hills, in the first round Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Pioneer Gym. The first 300 students with a Bay Card get FREE admission.
 
The overachieving Pioneers have been on a tear all season long, Cal State East Bay got the better of the Toros in both regular-season meetings, but the second was just a two-point affair that went down to the wire all of three weeks ago.
 
In the first matchup of the season, East Bay never trailed and held a double-digit advantage most of the way thanks to yet another efficient offensive performance. They shot 48.3 percent from the floor as a team and went 8-for-21 from long distance. Perhaps most impressively, the Pioneers committed just five turnovers the entire evening, preventing the Toros from having a chance to go on a scoring run.
 
Dominguez Hills shot the ball well too, finishing at 49 percent from the field for the night. They also out-rebounded East Bay by a margin of 37-29, but the home team's ability to take care of the ball kept them in control throughout.
 
For the second game in a row, sophomore Nai Carlisle turned in a stellar effort, needing just eight shots to score a game-high 20 points. The Indiana native went 6-for-8 from the field and 8-for-10 on free throws, and he didn't turn the ball over once despite playing a team-high 31 minutes.
 
Juwan Anderson added 15 points and led the Pioneers with four assists. Fellow senior Deiondre Bird also reached double figures with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting.
 
Senior Evan Wardlow notched nine points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Redshirt freshman John Duff contributed eight points in his first career start, and junior Trent Warren totaled seven points, going 2-for-4 from three-point range.
 
In the final meeting of the season, Senior point guard Juwan Anderson (Oakland, Calif.) sealed the Pioneer 74-72 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills with the game-winning shot on Saturday evening, February 9 in the Torodome. Anderson finished the game with 12 points and seven assists on 4-for-7 shooting from the field. He also had four rebounds, a block and a steal through 33 minutes of action. Anderson knocked down two three-pointers and both of his foul shots.
 
East Bay shot over 52 percent for the ball game for the second consecutive contest while converting 44 percent of their three-pointers. Senior wing Evan Wardlow (Lake View Terrance, Calif.) compiled a team-high 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting accuracy from the field including 3-for-6 from long distance. Wardlow added four rebounds, three assists, and two steal on a team-high 35 minutes played.
 
The Pioneers bench played strong tonight as they outscored the home team reserves 22-2 for the outing. Redshirt freshman John Duff (Los Angeles, Calif.) returned to the Los Angeles area and led the CSUEB bench with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting in 22 minutes. Duff added five rebounds and two blocks while sinking both his free throws.
 
Junior Ant Navarrete (San Leandro, Calif.) once again led the Pioneers with seven rebounds to go along with eight points, a steal and a block. Nai Carlisle (West Lafayette, Ind.) and Patrick Marr (Clayton, Calif.) both tallied six points each for CSUEB. Carlise chipped in two rebounds and two assists on 3-for-6 shooting while Marr had three bounds and a team-best four made free throws.
 
PIONEER POINTS
After reaching double digits just once in the first seven games of the season, likely all-CCAA player Evan Wardlow has now scored in double figures in 16 of the last 20 games, while averaging 5.1 rebounds per game in league play as well. Wardlow has been the Pioneers toughest wind defender and is scoring 13.3 points per game in CCAA play thus far, tops on the team and 14th in the league.
 
Senior Juwan Anderson entered the Pioneer record books as the all-time assist leader in program history, reaching a career total of 403 in less than three seasons to break the previous record of 349 that has stood since 2010. He finished second in the conference in assists per game with 5.3 (142) and continues to rank first in assist-turnover ratio (2.3). He's also shooting 86.9 percent from the foul line, which is second in the league. Anderson has made 93 of 107 shots from the foul line this season. Anderson dished out 16 assists against SF State to break the single-game school record.
 
Nai Carlisle is the 17th leading scorer in the CCAA during league games, averaging 12.6 points per game. The Indiana native has been incredibly efficient this season, shooting 49 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range.
 
Ant Navarrete is leading the Pioneers in scoring, rebounding and second in field goal percentage. Navarrete is sixth in the league with 6.8 rebounds per contest and second in the CCAA shooting 52 percent from the field. He is averaging 12.4 points per game after scoring in double figures in 15 of the last 20 games.
 
For Dominguez Hills, they finished with 14-13 record on the season and a 12-10 mark in conference action. Colten Kresi is leading the Toros with 12.7 points per game with 68 made three-pointers at 42 percent clip. David Howard is adding 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds.
 
TALE OF THE TAPE
(CCAA rank in parentheses)
 

Team	PPG	Opp PPG	Scoring Margin	Rebound Margin	Turnover Margin	FG%	Opp FG%	3-pt FG%	3-pt FG/Game	FT%
CSUDH	75.7 (3rd)	76.6 (12th)	-0.9 (8th)	-1.1 (8th)	-1.4 (9th)	.460 (3rd)	.453 (11th)	.389 (2nd)	8.8 (5th)	.749 (3rd)
CSUEB	72.6 (8th)	67.1 (3rd)	5.5 (4th)	+2.6 (6th)	+1.5 (5th)	.446 (5th)	.416 (4th)	.332 (11th)	6.7 (10th)	.731 (6th)