STOCKTON, Calif. – In an exhibition game on Sunday at Alex G. Spanos Center, the Cal State East Bay men's basketball team defeated NCAA Division I opponent, Pacific, 79-73. After the opening basket was scored by Kevin Ebiriekwe less than a minute into the action, the Pioneers did not trail and finished with the win.
 

GAME SUMMARY

 
After Ebiriekwe scored the opening basket, the Pioneers built a lead to as large as 15 points, notably at the 13:22 mark of the first half after a 3-pointer from Tim Andreolli. Although the Tigers cut the lead to as little as seven points, Cal State East Bay built its lead back to 13 points, and ultimately led by 10 at halftime, 39-29. 
 
 Much of the Pioneers first half scoring was from their success in field goals, shooting 56 percent through the first 20 minutes of action. Dimitrios Klonaras scored nine points in the first half, and Chris James scored eight after going 3-for-4 from the floor and making one free throw. 
 
Grady Lewis scored the opening basket of the second half, but Pacific came back with a 10-2 run to cut Cal State East Bay's lead to two, 43-41 at the 14:10 mark. 
 
While Pacific was mostly within 10 points of the Pioneers down the stretch, the lead was never relinquished, and a pair of free throws by Andreolli with eight seconds remaining sealed Sunday's win for Cal State East Bay. 
 

NOTABLE STATS

 

• Klonaras was the leading scorer for Cal State East Bay with 15 points, going 4-for-9 from the floor and 6-for-6 in free throws.
• Andreolli scored 14 points on Sunday. 
• Going 3-for-4 beyond the arc was Julian Lopez, who finished with nine points.  
• With six rebounds each were Ebiriekwe, Klonaras and Lewis.
• Defensively, Ebiriekwe had a pair of blocks and Ramsey Huff had two steals. 
• As a team, Cal State East Bay was precisely 50 percent from the floor and made 20 of 22 free throw attempts. 
• CSUEB outrebounded the Tigers, 31-29. 
• Leading Pacific in scoring was Nick Blake with 19 points. 

 

POSTGAME QUOTE

 
Cal State East Bay head coach Bryan Rooney following Sunday's exhibition win:
"Super happy for our guys in earning tonight's victory! I was extremely proud of our togetherness the entire game - we really played for one another on both ends. Our guys will remember tonight for a long time!"
 

UP NEXT FOR CAL STATE EAST BAY

 
Cal State East Bay returns to CCAA action this coming Friday evening with a matchup against No. 15 Cal State San Bernardino. Tipoff from The Den on the CSUSB campus is set for 7:30 p.m.