Last year, the CSU East Bay men’s basketball team finished the year with only two wins in the conference. This year they have already matched that total as they have started the season 2-0 in the conference.

The Pioneers got their first look at the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) last weekend when defeating both Sonoma and Humboldt State in the home stand.

On Friday night, the Pioneers overcame a 13-point deficit to come back and defeat Sonoma 89-85.

Leading scorer for the Pioneers Mark Samuels scored 24 points in the game, allowing them to come back and defeat Sonoma.

Roshun Wynne also led the Pioneers, scoring attack with 24 points of his own in a game that saw the lead change six times.

The following day, the Pioneers entered Saturday night’s game against Humboldt State with high energy as they jumped out to an 8-0 advantage in the first quarter.
Freshmen Nick Marshall and Jacari Whitfield were Saturday night’s leading scorers as they helped propel the Pioneers past Humboldt State 88-82.

The reigning CCAA Division II champions, Humboldt State, had entered the game undefeated, ranked No. 6 in the nation.

Prior to the start of the season, the Pioneers were predicted to finish last in the conference, according to the coaches poll.  Humboldt State was picked to repeat as the CCAA champion.

“Beating Humboldt was a really big win for us,” said Samuels. “I feel like we had great energy before the game. We played a high ranked opponent so that made us more motivated to come in here and strive for a win. Everybody pulled together and everybody contributed and we came away with the win.”

This week, the CCAA also announced Roshun Wynne as the player of the week for the week of Nov. 28 to Dec. 4.

Wynne averaged 16.5 points, six rebounds and two steals in both games.

With the weekend sweep, the Pioneers have advanced their overall record to 4-2 while establishing a 2-0 record in the conference.

“Last year we were ranked dead last,” said Pioneers men’s basketball head coach Will Biggs. “We’re doing a lot of good things right now, I couldn’t be prouder.”

Although the rest of the conference did not view the Pioneers as a threat at the beginning of the season, Coach Biggs along with the rest of the team knew that they were a much improved team from a season ago and that they could keep pace with the rest of the CCAA.

When asked what this year’s team is doing differently than last year’s team, Samuels, who has been the Pioneers leading scorer for the past two seasons, responded with certainty that this team is setting its vision to better things.

“This year, I think more of our guys are just buying in and taking what the coach says and trying hard to succeed at it. I feel like we’re clicking more as a team and we’re all on the same page,” said Samuels.

“This was a good win but overall we need to stay humble and move to the next game. If we keep playing like we’re playing, we’ll make a lot of people proud. So hopefully we can keep this up and have good weeks of practice and see where this takes us,” expressed Samuels.

The Pioneers next game will be at home on Dec. 18 against CSU Dominguez Hills, who faced off against Humboldt State in the 2010 CCAA Basketball Championships.
The following day the Pioneers will take on CSU Los Angeles to complete the home stand.

“Hopefully we can keep succeeding and make a name for our school,” said Samuels. “We’re looking to shock the world and this is a good beginning.”