Men's basketball rallies to end regular season with a win

Courtesy of On My Game Photography
Courtesy of On My Game Photography

Irvine Valley's men's basketball team finished out the regular season with a 71-60 victory at Golden West in an Orange Empire Conference game on Wednesday evening.

The Lasers improved their record to 18-10 overall and 9-7 in conference.

The Lasers currently sit in fourth place in the conference with several games still on tap for other colleges Friday night.

Irvine Valley actually trailed Golden West 35-34, at the half, but the Lasers out-scored the Rustlers by 12 points (37-25) in the second half to rally for the victory.

IVC had three players score in double figures. Freshman guard Gavin O'Neil finished with 18 points. He went 5 of 6 from three-point range.

Sophomore guard Aaron Strings and sophomore guard JT Robinson each added 15 points.

Strings also chipped in five rebounds, four assists and two steals and Robinson had four assists.

Freshman forward Garrett Andre came off the bench with eight points and seven rebounds for the Lasers.

IVC played solid defense in the contest, helping limit Golden West to just 39.0 percent (23 of 59) from the field as a team.

Irvine Valley will now wait for the announcement of the CCCAA South region playoffs pairings on Sunday.

The Lasers were ranked No. 17 in the state in the latest California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association state poll.