HAYWARD, Calif. — The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team pulled out a thrilling home victory over No. 9-ranked Cal State San Marcos, 79-77, on Thursday evening at Pioneer Gym.

East Bay (6-12, 4-8 CCAA) has now won three of its last four contests overall, and three-straight meetings against San Marcos (14-3, 10-3) in contests played in Hayward. The Pioneers' scheduled contest this Saturday, Feb. 5, against Cal State LA has been canceled due to COVID protocol.

Junior Tone Patton made his third-straight start and led the way with his best performance in a Pioneer uniform, recording season highs of 22 points and 16 rebounds on 10-of-12 shooting from the field.  

Freshman guard DJ Sanders scored 17 points with six rebounds, while senior forwards Josh Dhatt and Justin Vigil finished with 16 points apiece.

CSUEB trailed by six at halftime, 40-34, but rallied back to take a one-point lead after Sanders' 3-point play with with 13:52 remaining. A short jumper by Patton with 3:43 left to play put the Pioneers ahead 69-67, and a driving bucket by Sanders made it 75-71 with 1:40 remaining.