Irvine Valley's men's basketball team had its chances on Friday against Cypress in an Orange Empire Conference game on the road.
The Lasers jumped out to an 11-point advantage in the first half, led, 33-26, at the break and were in the contest throughout.
But Cypress pulled away in the final minutes and went on to a 55-50 win.
The defeat dropped Irvine Valley's record to 4-16 overall and 0-8 in conference play. Cypress improved to 13-7 overall and stayed in the hunt for one of the top spots in the OEC at 67-2.
Irvine Valley shot 56.5 percent (13 of 23) from the field as a team in the opening half and 62.5 percent (5 of 8) from three-point range grab the seven-point advantage.
But it was a different story in the second half as IVC made just 6 of 24 shots (25.0 percent) and scored only 17 points.
Irvine Valley was led by sophomore post player Charlie Henderson, who had 15 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Freshman guard Luke Farrington added nine points and six rebounds, freshman guard Christian Griffin had seven points and freshman guard David Ogunlade contributed six assists.
Cypress was paced by Hadi Essayli, who finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
IVC turns around and plays again Monday, traveling to Orange Coast for a 6 p.m. contest.