LA JOLLA, Calif. — The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team came out sharp on the road against a top-10 ranked opponent Saturday night, but couldn't pull out the late victory in a loss at No. 6 UC San Diego, 76-73, at RIMAC Arena.

Junior guard Nai Carlisle scored a season-high 20 points with four assists, and had a good look at a tying 3-pointer that hit the back of the rim as time expired.
 
Senior forward Ant Navarrete scored 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, junior forward Zafir Williams finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, while senior guard Evan Wardlow had  season-highs 12 points and four assists.

The Pioneers shot 11-for-22 from 3-point range, had a 14-5 edge in second-chance points and scored 13 points off Triton turnovers.

Cal State East Bay (9-6, 5-4 CCAA) started strong and raced out to a 15-2 lead on a Williams' 3-pointer. The Pioneers led by as many as 16 in the first half, 24-8, when freshman guard Julian Lopez made a three for his first-career field goal with 11:03 left before halftime.

But after taking a three-point lead into intermission, CSUEB found itself trailing 71-61 with 2:55 left to play. 

Williams then scored six-straight points and senior Trent Warren made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one with 12 seconds to go. Two free throws by Mikey Howell put UC San Diego (13-1, 7-1) ahead by three with eight seconds remaining. 

Cal State East Bay returns home for a Battle of the Bays matchup against rival Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday, Jan. 11, beginning at 3 p.m.