HAYWARD, Calif. — It was a festive evening at Pioneer Gym for Homecoming Weekend, but the Cal State East Bay men's basketball team was unable to quite hold on in a narrow loss to No. 4-ranked UC San Diego, 62-55.

The loss drops CSUEB (14-11, 10-9 CCAA) into sixth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings, just one half game behind fifth place Stanislaus State (15-10, 11-9).

The top eight teams qualify for the upcoming CCAA Tournament, with the top four seeds hosting quarterfinal contests on March 3.

Cal State San Bernardino (19-6, 14-5), Chico State (19-6, 14-5) and Cal Poly Pomona (18-6, 14-5) are tied for second place with three games remaining each, as one will likely be the Pioneers' opponent in the quarterfinals.

Junior forward Zafir Williams scored 15 points with nine rebounds to lead Cal State East Bay, while junior forward Nai Carlisle also finished with 15 points.

Senior guard Evan Wardlow chipped in nine points with four rebounds, junior forward Josh Dhatt scored eight points and senior guard Trent Warren recorded a career-high 10 rebounds.

The Pioneers came out strong in the first half and took a seven point lead, 31-24, into halftime.

Wardlow's short jumper to open the second half pushed the lead to nine, and Carlisle's bucket in the lane made it 35-27 with 17:36 remaining.

CSUEB trailed by as many as 10 in the second half, but trimmed its deficit to five, 56-51, on Dhatt's layup with 44 seconds to go. It was the closest the Pioneers would get the rest of the way, however.

Cal State East Bay returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 22, as the Pioneers play host to Cal State San Marcos on Senior Day beginning at 3 p.m.