HAYWARD, Calif-  For the second time this season, the Cal State East Bay Pioneers came back from a large second half deficit to force overtime on their way to a victory over Sonoma State.  On Friday night, the Pioneers overcame a 15-point second half deficit to beat the Seawolves 92-84.  Despite the loss, the Seawolves (11-16, 10-12 CCAA) will play in next week's CCAA Championship Tournament as the No. 7 seed.

As the No. 7 seed, the Seawolves will take on longtime rival Humboldt State, the event's No. 2 seed.  The teams split their regular season meetings with each winning on the other team's home court.  The game will be played in Arcata, where Sonoma State beat Humboldt State 65-50.

Friday night's game marked the second time this season that Cal State East Bay had come from behind to beat Sonoma State in overtime.  The first was an 89-87 win at The Wolves' Den that saw the Pioneers erase a 23-point deficit.

Though the Pioneers would lead by two at the break, 32-30, the Seawolves would come out strong in the second, building up an 11-point lead after a 16-3 run. 

The Sonoma lead would hover around ten for most of the second half and would stand at 11, 70-59, with 4:48 remaining in regulation.  From that point the Pioneers went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to one with 1:16 left.

With 23 seconds left in regulation, the Pioneers' Jawaan Rubin sank two free throws to tie the game at 73.  Rubin then proceeded to steal the ball, hit a jumper, get fouled, and make the free throw to put East Bay up by three with seven seconds left. 

Sonoma State went to their leading scorer for the game saver and Steven Pratt delivered, sinking a three-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime.

Unfortunately, the Seawolves were out of gas in the overtime period as East Bay scored the first seven points and won by a dozen.

Pratt finished his night with 19 points, six rebounds, and six assists, before fouling out early in the overtime period.   Freshman Will Olsem had six more three-pointers on his way to 19.  With 70 three-pointers on the season, Olsem breaks Jeb Ivey's freshman record and moves to third place on the all-time single-season list.  Chad Chambers also had a nice game for Sonoma, with an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Rubin paced all scorers with 23 points for the Pioneers.  Scott Knox added 21 and Saeed Gaston came up with 19 for the Pioneers.

Stay tuned to sonomaseawolves.com for more information about the CCAA Championship Tournament.

Box Score:  Cal State East Bay 92, Sonoma State 84