HAYWARD, Calif. — Saturday evening at Pioneer Gymnasium, Cal State East Bay fell in the final game of a four‑game CCAA homestand, as Cal Poly Humboldt pulled away for a 93–68 win behind an efficient night in the paint and a decisive third‑quarter surge. The most salient stretch came late in the third, when the Lumberjacks closed on a 19–5 run to take a 77–54 lead into the fourth and never look back.
The night opened with a back‑and‑forth first three‑plus minutes punctuated by three 3‑pointers—two from Lucca Lowenberg and another from Lailah Carey—that gave the Pioneers their first lead at 11–10 with 6:30 left in the first. Lowenberg buried three 3‑pointers in the quarter, the last tying it at 17–17. Moments later, Sierra Morris converted a 3‑point play for a 20–19 edge, but Humboldt answered with an 8–0 run to close the first up 27–20.
East Bay briefly stemmed the tide early in the second when Taylor Eldredge finished in transition, only for the Lumberjacks to rebuild the margin and carry a 52–36 advantage into halftime behind second‑chance points and interior scoring.
The Pioneers (4–10) found a spark to start the third. Carey opened with a 3‑pointer, then scored in traffic after a Meredith Gilbertson offensive board, and Aloha Akaka added a driving finish to trim the deficit. A Monroe Anderson steal set up Carey for a layup at the 5:04 mark, bringing East Bay within nine at 58–49. Humboldt responded immediately, stringing together stops and timely baskets—highlighted by Shade Satica and Kya Kanoho finishes and a Jada Barnes pull‑up—fueling the 19–5 close to the quarter.
Although the fourth was played more evenly, the early burst from Leamsi Acuna, who hit back‑to‑back 3‑pointers to push the lead past 20, kept the game out of reach. East Bay got late buckets from Hailey Estrada in transition and Gilbertson on a feed from Akaka, but Humboldt's balance sealed it at 93–68.
Carey led the Pioneers with a season‑high 16 points on 6‑for‑15 shooting with two free throws, and Morris added 13. Gilbertson posted a game‑high 10 rebounds and paced East Bay with five assists. Akaka, Estrada and Anderson each recorded one steal and one block. East Bay won the glass 41–33, but Humboldt shot 51.5 percent to the Pioneers' 39.7 percent.
"It was a tough weekend for us as we didn't play our brand of basketball. As a group, we still need to compete at a higher level and find a way to play hard for 40 minutes," Cal State East Bay head coach Jenny Thigpin said.
Next up, Cal State East Bay travels to UC Merced on Thursday, January 15 for a 5:30 p.m. tip at the Joseph Edward Gallo Recreation & Wellness Center in Merced, California. It will be the first CCAA matchup between the Pioneers and Bobcats.
