HAYWARD, Calif. – On Thursday, Cal State East Bay men's basketball started a stretch of five straight home games to finish the regular season. At Pioneer Gymnasium, the Pioneers defeated the Cal Poly Pomona, 78-65. With the win, the possibility of reaching the CCAA Tournament becomes greater for the Pioneers.
 

The Broncos started the game up early on the Pioneers, but CSUEB went on a 20-14 run, capped by a Dimitrios Klonaras layup with 7:50 left for a 20-18 lead. The Pioneers then scored nine unanswered points, capped off by a Tyree Campbell jumper with 5:26 left in the half. The lead for CSUEB kept growing and ultimately the Pioneers led 37-29 at halftime.
 
A 10-4 run for Cal Poly Pomona started the second half, capped by a Malcolm Bell 3-pointer with 17:21 left, to trim the Pioneers' lead to two at 41-39. But the Broncos would get no closer, however, as the Pioneers went on a 19-11 run, capped by a Chris James jumper with 7:50 left, to expand their lead back to double digits. The Pioneers led by as much as 19 points, at 78-59, on a Ramsey Huff 3-pointer with 1:08 left. Although CPP scored the final six points of the game, the Pioneers won 78-65.
 

• Grady Lewis had a game high 26 points to lead the Pioneers, going 11-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the free throw line.
• With 15 points each were Campbell and Klonaras and James scored 10 points.
• With 10 rebounds, Klonaras finished with a double double.
• Defensively, Campbell had a block and three steals.
• Brandon Porter had scored 22 points for the Broncos.
• The Pioneers shot 49.1 percent from the field and the Broncos shot 47.7 in field goals.
• The Broncos outrebounded the Pioneers 30-29.
• With four games remaining for Cal State East Bay, the Pioneers sit in fifth place in the CCAA standings, ahead by three games over Cal State San Marcos and San Francisco State, who are tied for seventh place. The top six spots in the standings qualify for the CCAA Tournament.

Cal State East Bay head coach Bryan Rooney following Thursday's win:
"Great effort by our guys tonight. Our defensive effort, especially in the first half, was especially important in the victory. I also thought we executed well against the zone and the key was that we really shared the ball."
 

Cal State East Bay: 15-9, 11-7 CCAA
Cal Poly Pomona: 8-14, 7-11 CCAA
 

The second game of a five-game home stretch takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday evening for the Pioneers when they host (RV) Cal State San Bernardino. On December 7, the Pioneers handed the Coyotes their first loss of the season, 74-71 in San Bernardino.