East Bay Wins Second Straight with 89-87 Overtime Victory

  • January 21, 2010

ROHNERT PARK, Calif. - The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team made it two CCAA wins in a row following a thrilling 89-87 overtime victory over Sonoma State on January 21. Sonoma State jumped out to a 39-18 lead with 5:13 left and held a 43-27 halftime advantage. The Seawolves shot 69.2 percent from the field compared to 33.3% for the Pioneers. Donovan Jackson came off the bench to lead Cal State East Bay with six points in the first half.

Cal State East Bay still trailed 58-40 with 13:31 remaining in the game. The Pioneers roared back on a jumper by Frankie McWirt cutting the Seawolves lead to 73-69. McWirt converted a 3-pointer to make the score 73-72 with 49 seconds remaining. Sonoma State scored three unanswered free throws to increase its advantage to 76-72 with 11 seconds left. With the score, 77-74 in favor of Sonoma State, Will Freedman nailed a three-pointer as time expired to send the game into overtime. Cal State East Bay scored a season-high 50 points in the second half compared to 34 for Sonoma State.

The Pioneers grabbed their first lead of the game, 82-81, with 2:40 remaining on the second of two free throws by Demitrius Owens. Cal State East Bay converted three free throws, two by Jawaan Rubin and another by Jun Uchida, to increase its lead to 85-82 with 51 seconds remaining. Sonoma State tied the game 86-86, with 13 seconds left on the second of two free throws by Steven Pratt. Rubin converted a three-point play to give the Pioneers an 89-86 lead with six seconds left in overtime and the hard earned victory.

The Pioneers had four players score in double figures led by Uchida and Freedman with 19 and 18 points respectively. Uchida added six assists and three steals. Freedman had a big night on the boards with nine rebounds. Owens came off the bench to score 11 points followed by McWirt with 10. Pratt led Sonoma State in scoring with a game-high 20 points. Cal State East Bay improved to 2-8 in the CCAA and 5-10 overall. Sonoma State stands at 3-8 in CCAA play and 4-12 for the season.