In a battle of two of the top 30-ranked teams in the state, No. 22 Irvine Valley fell to No. 28 Riverside on Tuesday afternoon at home.
It was Irvine Valley's second Orange Empire Conference game and first OEC contest at home.
The Lasers went to 7-5 overall and 0-2 in conference, while Riverside improved its record to 10-4 overall and 3-0 in conference.
IVC got off to a rought start with Riverside scoring the first five points of the game and getting out to a 22-13 lead after a three-pointer by Zekiah LoVett.
Riverside took its largest advantage of the first half at 29-15 after a layup by Robert Ayala with 6:05 left.
But Irvine Valley closed the half strong, out-scoring Riverside, 12-2, to get within four points at the break.
The Lasers made it a 31-27 game after a layup by freshman forward Charlie Henderson at the buzzer.
And IVC used that late, first-half momentum early in the second half.
Baskets by sophomore forward Colby Waite and freshman guard Tyson Robinson tied the game at 31 less than a minute into the half.
And the Lasers grabbed their first lead of the game at 35-34 after an offensive rebounds and layup by sophomore guard Luc Krystkowiak with 15:33 left in the game.
It was back and forth over the next several minutes with five lead changes.
Irvine Valley went ahead, 44-42, on a layup by Henderson with 8:39 left.
But Riverside took the lead for good on its next possession on a three-pointer by Amir Davis.
Edwyn Collins followed with a three-pointer for the Tigers a minute later and RCC had a 48-44 lead.
Another three-pointer, this time by Ayala, had IVC chasing the rest of the way. Irvine Valley trailed, 51-44, with seven minutes to go.
Irvine Valley got within 51-48 on a layup by Aaron Strings with 3:54 to play, but Riverside got a three-pointer by Zekiah LoVett and another three-pointer by Collins to put the game away.
The difference in the game was at the three-point stripe where Irvine Valley went 0 of 11 and Riverside made 11 of 27.
Davis led Riverside with 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. LoVett scored 12 points, going 4 of 7 from three-point range, and Melvin Walker added 10 points and four assists.
Irvine Valley was paced by Krystkowiak with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Henderson was the other Laser player in double figures with 10 points. He also had seven rebounds.
The Lasers finish out the 2021 year with a 5 p.m. game at LA Valley on Thursday at 5 p.m.
