POMONA, Calif. — On a Thursday evening at Kellogg Arena, No. 3 Cal State East Bay clamped down from the start and ran away from Cal Poly Pomona, 79-46, matching its season low for points allowed and extending its win streak to 19. The Pioneers are also one of just two remaining undefeated teams in Division II along with top-ranked Washburn.
The Pioneers struck first and never let up. They limited the Broncos to a single field goal over the opening nine-plus minutes while uncorking a 9-0 burst that made it 22-5, a stretch built on active hands at the point of attack and quick outlets turning stops into easy looks. Late in the first, Jalen Foy trailed a transition action and knocked down a 3-pointer from beyond the arc to push the margin to 39-16 inside the final minute. East Bay took a 39-18 lead into the break, having dictated pace and paint touches on both ends.
The second half brought more of the same. East Bay (19-0) strung together another 10-0 run to stretch the cushion beyond 35, and the advantage reached 39 with 5:49 to play following a steal and a thunderous fastbreak dunk by Takai Emerson-Hardy to make it 70-31. From there, the Pioneers managed the clock and the glass while the defense stayed connected, holding the Broncos to just 11 made field goals for the game and cruising through the finish line at 79-46.
Tyree Campbell paced the Pioneers with 17 points, going 6-for-9 from the floor, a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 2-for-2 at the line. Emerson-Hardy supplied a season-high 11, giving East Bay a timely scoring punch off the bench. Ramsey Huff led a balanced rebounding effort with seven boards. Joshua Ijeh added two blocks and continues to lead the CCAA in swats this season, while Campbell and Andrew Camacho collected three steals apiece to headline another turnover-tilting night. Team-wise, East Bay won the glass 43-35 and shot 46.3 percent to the Broncos' 23.9 percent.
Head coach Bryan Rooney on the performance: "Great defensive effort tonight by our guys. This all started in practice this week. We had excellent intentionality with our habits and it was awesome to see the carryover."
With the victory, the Pioneers remain among D-II's last two unbeatens; No. 1 Washburn owns the other spotless record (21-0) and currently sits atop the NABC Coaches poll.
East Bay holds a three game lead in the CCAA standings after Thursday's action.
Cal State East Bay heads inland next: a Saturday, Jan. 31 trip to Coussoulis Arena to face Cal State San Bernardino at 1 p.m. The Pioneers won the first meeting 78-64 on January 2 in Hayward. The Pioneers can also clinch a CCAA Tournament berth as early as Saturday with a win combined with other results throughout the CCAA from Saturday's action on the court.
