The California State University, East Bay men’s basketball team finished the Veteran’s Day Classic 2-0 with impressive victories against Notre Dame de Namur and Holy Names University.
The Pioneers started the season with a win against the Notre Dame de Namur Argonauts on Friday. They played extremely well defensively and held the Argonauts to 40 percent shooting from the field.
The Pioneers managed to get to the foul line as they went 25-35 from the free-throw line. They also outrebounded the Argonauts 38 to 32 and forced them into 14 turnovers while scoring 19 points off of those turnovers.
Senior Point Guard, Juwan Anderson did not shoot the ball well but was able to run the offense and was active defensively. He led the team with seven assists and tallied two steals. Senior Forward, Patrick Marr added 13 points with five rebounds as well.
Junior forward Ant Navarrete and junior guard Trent Warren had impressive performances. Navarrete led the team with 18 points on an efficient 8-12 shooting and also grabbed 10 rebounds in his first game with the Pioneers after transferring to CSUEB from Canada. Warren provided a spark off the bench with 14 points, connecting on three of his five three-pointers.
“I felt like me having my presence felt inside on the offensive end and bringing energy got my team going,” Navarrete said. “But our biggest key this weekend was our defense. We identify ourselves as a defensive team and we really took pride in that.”
The Pioneers were able to maintain their momentum from Friday night’s game as they defeated Holy Names University 75-60 on Saturday night.
After a poor 0-7 shooting performance from Juwan Anderson on Friday, he was able to turn it around and lead the team in scoring with 22 points on 7-for-14 shooting.
He also achieved five assists, four rebounds and three steals. Junior guard Nai Carlisle, Anderson’s backcourt partner, also played well with 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting in 29 minutes of play.
The Pioneers were strong defensively once again in a game against the Hawks, where they were able to hold Holy Names University to 36.7 percent from the field and forced 16 turnovers. They also outrebounded the Hawks 42 to 27.
CSUEB had a 10 point lead at halftime but the Hawks were able to cut into that deficit and took the lead briefly in the second half. CSUEB was able to regain their lead and never turned back as they cruised to a 15 point victory. Navarette added 10 points and five rebounds in the victory and senior forward Evan Wardlow also provided eight points and six rebounds in 26 minutes.
“It is big for us to start 2-0 with all of the new guys we have. We are still trying to come together and play to everybody’s strengths,” Anderson said. “We are more focused on the defensive end this year and trying to make that our identity. We did have many mistakes in both games so we are going to watch film and get better throughout the season.”
The Pioneers look to keep their momentum as they finish up their last few pre-season games of the season.