Men's basketball team splits first two games in Santa Barbara

Courtesy of Toni Lavacot
Courtesy of Toni Lavacot

Irvine Valley's men's basketball team bounced back from an opening game loss in the Santa Barbara Tournament with a 72-56 victory over Pasadena in a consolation contest on Friday afternoon.

IVC let a late lead slip away and fell to Victor Valley, 63-60, in its first game of the tournament on Thursday.

Victor Valley out-scored Irvine Valley, 35-24, in the second half to pull out the win.

Irvine Valley got 16 points and five rebounds from sophomore guard Chris Salas, 15 points from sophomore guard Jimmy Golden and nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks from sophomore center Andrew Bastien in the defeat.

The Lasers came back with a solid win over Pasadena City on Friday.

IVC took control early and led, 33-15, at the end of the first half.

Irvine Valley got a breakout performance from reserve guard Jacob Short, who finished with 13 points. He was 3 of 4 from the field and 7 of 7 from the free throw line.

Sophomore forward Chris Porter added 12 points, Golden had 11 points and sophomore guard Ronnie Harris finished with 10 points and six assists.

The Lasers shot an impressive 57.8 percent (26 of 45) from the field as a team and made 8 of 17 three-point attempts (47.1 percent).

The win advanced Irvine Valley on to the consolation final against Orange Empire Conference rival Cypress on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Cypress is now coached by former IVC associate head coach Andrew Alhadeff.