SEASIDE, Calif. — It will be a merry Christmas for Monte Rey and the Otter men's basketball team, who avenged last week's loss at Cal State East Bay with a 93–81 win over the Pioneers Saturday afternoon in The Kelp Bed.

CSUMB (6–4, 2–2 CCAA) got 22 points from Greg Anderson (Murieta/Palomar College) and 21 points from CCAA leading scorer Evan Zeller (Mission Viejo HS). Anderson added 13 rebounds to complete CSUMB's first double–double of the season.

Anderson's 22 points matched his career high while his 13 rebounds bested his previous high by one.

At 6–4 overall, the Otters will head to the holiday break with their best record since the 2008–09 Otters won eight of their first 11 games.

As they did last week in Hayward, the Otters got off to a sketchy start Saturday, allowing the Pioneers to grab an early 9–point lead at 26–17 midway through the opening half. Still trailing by six, 34–26, with 5:26 remaining in the half, Daye Turner (Compton/Centennial HS) sliced through the lane for a tough layup that kick–started an 11–0 run Otter run. By the time the dust settled, CSUMB led 37–34.

Jacari Whitfield knocked down a three on East Bay's opening possession of the second half to give the Pioneers their final lead at 41–40. But a Jorey Scott (Lake Tahoe, Nev./Miramar College) 3–point play on the ensuing possession put the Otters back on top. By the time the second half was four minutes old, the Otter lead had grown to 10 points, 55–45.

Although the Otter lead never grew to more than 14 points, East Bay never held the ball within two possessions of the lead over the final 17:40 of regulation.

In addition to Anderson and Zeller, Scott reached double figures for the first time as an Otter, finishing with 10 points to go along with a season–high nine rebounds. Point guards Turner and Patrick Lefiti (Bay Point/Los Medanos College) directed the attack with four assists apiece.

Whitfield led East Bay with 23 points, one off his career high. He scored 22 points when the teams met in Hayward last week.

CSUMB will take some well–earned time off for the Christmas and New Year's holidays. The Otters will ring in 2015 with games at Sonoma State and San Francisco State Jan. 2–3.