Men's basketball team splits first two games of 2018-19 season

Men's basketball team splits first two games of 2018-19 season

After a disappointing loss in its season opener at Southwestern on Wednesday, the Irvine Valley men's basketball team picked up its first win of the 2018-19 season on Friday.

The Lasers defeated Cuyamaca, 77-64, on the road.

Freshman forward Christian Louis led the way for the second straight game.

Against Cuyamaca, he scored 16 points and added three rebounds. Louis was 6 of 8 from the field.

Freshman forward Sadiq Muhammad came off the bench with 10 points and four rebounds and sophomore forward David Georgiev added nine points, three rebounds and two steals for the Lasers.

Sophomore guards Isaiah Mahmud and Geoff Salas each also finished with nine points for IVC. Mahmud also had four assists. IVC freshman guard Tylan Lassiter finished with six points and four assists.

Irvine Valley jumped out to a 44-30 lead at the half and never looked back. The Lasers shot 49.0 percent as a team from the field and had 10 players score overall in the contest.

IVC started the season with a 80-50 loss at Southwestern on Wednesday. Louis came off the bench with 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field and making all three of his free throws.

Salas chipped in nine points for Irvine Valley.

The Lasers shot just 32.0 percent (16 of 50) from the field in the defeat.

Irvine Valley next gets ready for its own Irvine Valley Classic. The 24th annual tourney begins next Thursday and features 12 games over three days. 

IVC opens the event on Thursday against Imperial Valley at 5 p.m.