Women win, men lose

The Cal State East Bay women’s basketball team won back to back games at home over the weekend, bumping the Pioneers up to .500 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play at 6-6 and 11-7 overall.

CSUEB women defeated Chico State (7-9 overall, 4-8 conference) on Friday 75-56 and Cal State Stanislaus (5-11, 3-9) 58-55 on Saturday.

The combination of Stephanie Lopez and Tori Breshers has been strong for Cal State East Bay all year and that trend continued against the Wildcats on Friday. The two combined for 28 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists but it was the return of junior guard Laci Effenberger from a leg injury that stole the show. Effenberger accumulated nine points in 18 minutes on the floor in just her fourth game of the season due to injuries.

“I’ve been working and slowly progressing. I plan to be a large impact on the team,” Effenberger said. “I’ve just been through a couple bumps in the road but it finally paid off.”

Effenbereger said she has only been practicing for about two weeks and lateral movement has been her biggest obstacle. Effenberger and the rest of the bench were huge for the Pioneers and accounted for 34 of the team’s 75 total points in the game.

Senior guard, Sharissa Estremera scored nine points off the bench and another senior guard, Alyssa Palma tallied five points and four assists in just 13-minutes on the floor for the reserve.

“Our bench played a crucial role tonight and it was exciting to have our reserves contribute like they did tonight,” CSUEB

Head Coach Suzy Barcomb said. “We are taking the necessary steps to be a more complete team.”
The momentum continued Saturday despite leading for most of the game the Pioneers managed to squeak out just a three-point victory over CSUS on Saturday 58-55.
The Pioneers led most of the contest but the Warriors managed to make it close at the end. CSUS sophomore forward Cassidy Sanders-Curry scored a fast break layup with six seconds left in the game that made the score 56-54 with the Pioneers ahead.

On the next inbounds play CSUEB senior guard Micah Walker had her pass picked off by CSUS’s freshman center Erika Larsen who was then fouled.
With a chance to tie the game at the free throw line, Larsen missed the first free throw and made the second but it was too late for the Warriors, as the Pioneers managed to knock down free throws late to preserve the victory.

“These losses are tough,” CSUS Head Coach, Wayman Strickland said. “You have to learn from losses like this and get better.”

The usual suspects, Lopez and Breshers, dominated the game for CSUEB and combined for 24 points and 24 rebounds in the victory. Despite the late turnover Walker also had a great game for Cal State East Bay and tallied eight points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Effenberger scored nine points in her second game back from injuries for CSUEB.

“The pressure is really intense, we just had to be patient,” Palma said. “Laci (Effenberger) gives us a spark.”

Next up for the Pioneers is a two-game road trip to Southern California this weekend. Tomorrow, CSUEB will take on UC San Diego at 5:30 p.m. in La Jolla and on Saturday the Pioneers will make the short trek to Cal Poly Pomona for a 5:30 p.m. tip off.

Men fall to Chico, Stanislaus

The losing streak increased to five consecutive games for the Cal State East Bay men’s basketball team over the weekend. CSUEB fell 4-14 overall and 2-10 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play after losing on Friday and Saturday at Pioneer Gymnasium.

Only eight players recorded minutes during the two-game home stand for CSUEB with several key contributors sidelined with injuries. Seniors Nick Grieves, Jarred Jourdan, Ryan Okwudibonye as well as juniors Tre Mauldin and Jack Pasquini did not play in either home loss.

The Pioneers fell to the Chico State Wildcats (12-5 overall, 9-3 conference) on Friday 56-44 and the Cal State Stanislaus Warriors (12-5, 9-3) on Saturday 77-67.

There is a three-way tie for first place in the CCAA conference between Cal Poly Pomona, the Wildcats, and the Warriors who are all 9-3 in conference play.

On Friday Chico State controlled the game with defense and forced the Pioneers to shoot 22 percent from the field and 18 percent from behind the three-point line in the first half. CSUEB trailed by 14 points at halftime, 20-16, despite seven points and seven rebounds from freshman forward Patrick Marr in the first half.

Cal State East Bay started to get hot in the second half and outscored the Wildcats 28-26 in the second half on 45 percent shooting from the field. However, the first half lead was too much to overcome for the Pioneers led by Chico’s Jordan Barton who accumulated all of his 12 points and six rebounds in the second half.

Marr led the way for CSUEB and finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, and two steals in 40 minutes on the court. Junior Juawnn Springfield scored six points and pulled five rebounds in 30 minutes on the floor.

On Saturday, the Pioneers kept the score close against Cal State Stanislaus and trailed by just four points at halftime 34-30. The injuries and the Warriors’ defense combined to stifle CSUEB and resulted in a 10 point win for CSUS 77-67.

The Warriors scored 19 points off of eight steals and 11 Cal State East Bay turnovers. Senior guard Shey Mataele led the way for Stanislaus and accumulated 13 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Senior Wes Bartole was also huge in the win for the Warriors and he tallied 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 31 minutes.

Junior Marcus Norman recorded a game-high and career best 21 points for the Pioneers. Norman shot 57 percent from the field and knocked down five of his seven three-point shots on a career night for the Texas native.

Next up for the Pioneers is a road trip to take on the UC San Diego Tritons at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Rimac Arena.