Men's basketball team takes on San Bernardino Valley next

Men's basketball team takes on San Bernardino Valley next

Irvine Valley's men's basketball team will be up against one of the best teams in the state in the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs on Saturday.

The Lasers travel to second-seeded San Bernardino Valley for a 7 p.m. game in the Joseph W. Snyder Gymnasium.

San Bernardino Valley, which has a record of 25-7 overall, was ranked seventh in the state and fourth in Southern California in the final regular season poll on Feb. 17.

The Wolverines received a bye in the first round of the playoffs.

IVC is the No. 18 seed and defeated No. 15 Grossmont, 54-50, in the opening round on Wednesday at Grossmont.

Irvine Valley was paced by all-Orange Empire Conference sophomore guard Shaquille Hunter. He finished with 19 points.

Saturday night's showdown will most likely be decided by pace of play.

San Bernardino Valley ranks 10th in the state in scoring, averaging 79.7 points per game. The Wolverines also rank 10th in field goal percentage at 47.2 percent as a team.

Irvine Valley is second in the state in points allowed at just 56.8 per game. The Lasers also rank third in the state in holding opposing teams to just 38.5 percent shooting.

San Bernardino Valley last played on Feb. 22. It wrapped up Foothill Conference play with a 69-50 win over Rio Hondo.

The victory gave San Bernardino Valley its fourth Foothill Conference title in six years. It finished 9-1 in conference.

The Wolverines have won six straight games. In three of those contests they scored 100 points or more. They beat Victor Valley, 105-80, College of the Desert, 100-77, and Barstow, 105-70.

The team won its showdown with rival Chaffey on Feb. 19, earning a 68-56. In that game, sophomore guard Gerry Blakes paced the team with 23 points.

San Bernardino Valley's losses this year are to top-seeded Antelope Valley (83-77), No. 6 East Los Angeles (53-46), East Los Angeles (82-76), No. 8 Cerritos (67-57), Mesa College from Arizona (78-71), Salt Lake College from Utah (71-60) and No. 4 Chaffey (71-67).

SBVC is led by head coach Quincy Brewer, who was named the Foothill Conference coach of the year.

San Bernardino Valley also had the Foothill Conference MVP this season. Blakes averages 23.7 points per game. He has shot 52.1 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from the three-point line.

Blakes has 12 games of 20 or more points and three games with 30 points or more.

Sophomore guard Keith Smith was named first team all-conference after averaging 15 points a game and leading the conference in assists and steals.

Sophomore guard Tymarieh Dixon was named second team all-conference after averaging 14.2 points per game and freshman guard Charles Callison was named second team all-conference after averaging 12.3 points per game. He has also shot 44.1 percent from three-point range.

IVC has a record of 25-4 overall. It was 9-3 in the Orange Empire Conference for third place. It finished a game behind co-champions Saddleback and Santa Ana.

Irvine Valley finished ranked 18th in the state and No. 9 in Southern California in the last poll on Feb. 17.

The Lasers, guided by 19th-year head coach Jerry Hernandez, reached as high as No. 1 in the state in December when it got off to a 12-0 start. The Lasers were 17-1 at one point.

Hunter is averaging 15.1 points per game this season. He also has 54 made three-pointers. He made 5 of 8 three-pointers in the win over Grossmont.

Sophomore center Declan Daly was named first team all-conference after averaging 8.7 points and 7.3 rebounds. He is shooting 59.4 percent from the field on the year.

Freshman forward Chris Porter was named first team all-conference and is averaging 8.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Freshman guard Jimmy Golden averages 7.5 points and Dathon Spencer, a sophomore guard, is averaging 6.1 points per game. Spencer was named second team all-conference this season.

The winner of Saturday night's game moves on to the third round and will take on either No. 7 Glendale or No. 10 LA Harbor. That second-round playoff game was Friday night.

Irvine Valley College provides this web space for the use of its faculty, staff and other representatives of the college for the purpose of furthering the educational goals of the institution and enhancing the academic experience of its students. This is the official web site of Irvine Valley College Athletics. The data, statistics, photos, rosters and schedules used on this web site were gathered by the IVC Sports Information Office. Other web sites containing information about Irvine Valley College Athletics not within the official college web site may not be accurate. Questions or comments about this web site can be directed to bshaver@ivc.edu

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