CSUEB loses on home turf
January 21, 2016
The struggles continued for the Cal State East Bay men’s basketball team over the weekend.
CSUEB fell to 6-10 overall and 2-7 in California Collegiate Athletic Association contests, after they lost two home games at Pioneer Gymnasium. UC San Diego (13-3 overall, 8-2 conference) handily beat the Pioneers 64-43 on Friday, and Cal State San Bernardino (5-9, 2-8) edged out CSUEB in a close 78-73 victory.
The Tritons dominated East Bay and took a ten point advantage into the half at 28-18. It was more of the same from UCSD in the second half as they extended their advantage to 21 points by the end of the game. Senior forward Drew Dyer set the pace for the Tritons with 17 points in the winning effort.[mks_pullquote align=”left” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#232323″]“We’re always focused, but on the road you have to turn it up some.”[/mks_pullquote]
“We came out here focused,” Dyer said. “We’re always focused, but on the road you have to turn it up some.”
CSUEB senior forward Ryan Okwudibonye led the way for the Pioneers with a team-high 12 points in the loss. Senior guard Alex Carmon also chipped in with 8 points for East Bay. The Pioneers came back on Saturday with a renewed intensity. They challenged shots and fought for rebounds, which was reflected on the scoreboard. This time the Pioneers went into halftime down just one point, 39-38 against the coyotes.
CSUEB Head Coach Gus Argenal said that his team’s defensive performance was “solid,” but he expected better execution offensively and rebounding.
The game went back and forth and with just 21 seconds left, CSUEB freshman guard Jordan Balser grabbed a rebound and scored on a putback to make the score 74-73. The Pioneers were forced to foul and the Coyotes nailed their free throws to give them the 78-75 conference victory.
It was Okwudibonye again who had a game-high 26 points and 8 rebounds in the loss for the Pioneers. Junior guard Jalen Richard also helped CSUEB stay in the contest with his 14 points but was also credited with 9 turnovers. Richard is eighth overall in the CCAA conference in scoring, as he averages 15.3 points per game for the Pioneers.
The men’s basketball team will go on the road looking to rebound against San Francisco State (9-6, 3-6) tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.
