Sophomore guard Shaquille Hunter made two free throws with 7.4 seconds left and Irvine Valley's men's basketball team escaped with a 48-46 win over Riverside City in an Orange Empire Conference game at IVC on Wednesday night.
After each team called a timeout, Riverside couldn't get a shot off as time ran out.
The win was Irvine Valley's final game of the regular season and a big one.
The Lasers lost to Riverside the first time around in conference by 11 points. Irvine Valley improved its record to 24-4 overall and 9-3 in conference.
With Saddleback defeating Santa Ana on Wednesday night, the Lasers remained in third place in the conference standings.
The Lasers, ranked No. 18 in the state and No. 9 in Southern California, will now wait for Monday's Southern California Regional playoff bracket to be announced.
Sophomore forward Chris Porter led Irvine Valley with 14 points. Hunter added 11 points. Sophomore center Declan Daly and sophomore guard Dathon Spencer each finished with six points for the Lasers.
Irvine Valley shot 39.0 percent (16 of 41) from the field in the game.
Riverside, which was led by Robert James' 14 points, shot 42.5 percent (17 of 40) from the floor.
The difference in the game was at the free throw line where Irvine Valley went 12 for 15 and Riverside was just 8 for 20.
Irvine Valley jumped out to a big early lead. A layup by Daly gave put the Lasers up, 13-2, with 9:09 left in the first half.
But by the end of the half it was close. Especially after Shawn Joseph hit a three-quarter court shot at the buzzer. The three-pointer pulled Riverside within 20-18 at the break.
Two straight baskets by Daly gave the Lasers a 24-18 advantage with 17:52 left in the game.
But Riverside went on a 11-2 run to take the lead. A basket by DJ Muepo put the Tigers ahead, 29-26, with 14:49 to play.
The game was tied seven times and had seven lead changes after that.
IVC was up, 36-34, when Riverside scored five straight. A three-pointer by James gave the Tigers a 39-36 lead with 8:22 left.
A three-pointer play by Porter tied it at 39-39
And a three-pointer by Porter shortly after gave IVC a 42-41 lead with 7:14 to go.
Irvine Valley was up, 46-43, after an offensive rebound and put-back by Porter with 3:11 left.
One free throw by Braden Keenan, an IVC turnover and then a layup by James tied the game at 46-46 with 2:20 to play.
As was the case all night, points were hard to come by in the final two minutes.
Irvine Valley committed a turnover and missed two shots and Riverside missed three shots before Hunter was fouled by RCC's Joseph with 7.4 seconds remaining.
He went to the line and sank both free throws.
After the timeouts, Riverside got the ball in the hands of Joseph. Two IVC defenders collapsed on him in the corner and he couldn't get a shot off before losing the ball as time expired.
