Irvine Valley's men's basketball team couldn't get much going against a tough Riverside team on Wednesday night.
The Lasers were out-scored by 16 points in the first half and went on to fall, 68-52, to the Tigers in an Orange Empire Conference game.
Irvine Valley's record slipped to 11-10 overall and 2-4 in conference, while Riverside improved to 17-6 overall and 4-2 in conference.
Riverside shot 55.6 percent (15 of 27) from the field in the opening 20 minutes on its way to a 38-22 lead at halftime.
Meanwhile, Irvine Valley shot just 33.3 percent (8 of 24) in the opening half.
Riverside led by as many as 24 points in the second half before winning by 16.
The Tigers ended up shooting 50.9 percent (27 of 53) for the game.
Riverside received contributions from a number of players. Andre Wilson had 15 points and two steals and Brandon Thomas and Andy Cleaves each finished with 10 points. Brae Ivey had seven points, five assists and five rebounds and Cj Clark came off the bench with six points and six rebounds.
RCC's bench was a big help, out-scoring Irvine Valley, 20-2, in the contest. Six players scored off the bench for the Tigers.
Irvine Valley was paced by freshman forward Lance Coleman II, who had 15 points and seven rebounds in 36 minutes of action.
Sophomore guard Anthony Hernandez had 12 points, sophomore guard Mike Turner added 10 points and five rebounds and sophomore guard Zuri Williams chipped in nine points, four rebounds and four assists.
Irvine Valley stayed in fifth place in the conference standings.
The Lasers start the second round of conference action on Friday with a 5 p.m. game at Santa Ana.
