HAYWARD, Calif. — The Sonoma State men's basketball team picked up a key CCAA road victory after riding a strong first half performance into an easy 78-55 victory over Cal State East Bay Friday night at Pioneer Gym in Hayward.  The Seawolves improve to 7-8 in CCAA play and 10-9 overall while the Pioneers fell to 2-13 in the conference and 4-17 overall.  With the win, Sonoma State remains in seventh place in the CCAA and two games behind Humboldt State and Cal State San Bernardino for the sixth and final slot in the CCAA Championship Tournament with seven games to play in the regular season.

The Seawolves took control of this game in the first half and never let go. They led by as much as 21 points in the opening half after James Davis hit a three-pointer to give the Seawolves a 31-10 lead with 5:47 left. The Seawolves went into the half riding-high with a 36-20 lead. The second half started off scary for the Seawolves as the Pioneers scored the first 12 points of the second half to reduce the Seawolves lead to four, but the Seawolves settled down after Mike Harris hit a jumper with 16:19 remaining to launch a 7-0 run of their own to reestablish a double-digit lead that would grow to a 25 point victory for Sonoma State.

Sonoma State shot 49.2% (29-59) from the field compared with 46.8% (22-47) for the Pioneers. The Seawolves out rebounded the Pioneers 34-29. Sonoma State converted 13 Pioneer turnovers into 17 points, while they committed a season-low four turnovers that the Pioneers converted into five points. The Seawolves bench dominated the Pioneers bench 40-11. The Seawolves had 14 assists to the Pioneers three. The Seawolves also shot well from the charity-stripe hitting on 80% (12-15) to 36.4% (4-11) for the Pioneers. Sonoma State stole the ball seven times to the Pioneers two.

The Seawolves showcased a balanced scoring attack seeing six players go into double-figures. Harris, JJ Mina, and James Davis led the way with 12. David Ahern and James Slade each had 11 points. Zen Maki had a career-high 10 points, all of which came in the second half. Mina led the team in rebounds with nine. Khalid Johnson dished-out a career-high six assists.

Cody Kale led the Pioneers in scoring with 16 points. Jacari Whitfield had 12 points.

Sonoma State looks to complete a perfect weekend when they travel to take on Cal State Monterey Bay Saturday night at 7:30 P.M.