It wasn't the prettiest first game of the season, but the Irvine Valley men's basketball team will take a win.
Irvine Valley defeated Southwestern, 59-48, to open the 2013-14 campaign Friday night at home.
The two teams totaled 39 fouls and shot just a combined 17 of 47 from the free throw line in the contest.
The Lasers did enough on offense however and limited an athletic Southwestern team on the other end.
IVC shot 46.7 percent from the field (21 of 45) and 53.8 percent from three-point range (7 of 13).
Irvine Valley also out-rebounded Southwestern, 35-27.
Southwestern, which shot 45.5 percent from the field, hurt itself by going just 7 of 28 from the free throw line (25.0 percent) and 1 of 11 from three-point range (9.1 percent).
The Lasers led from the start and by halftime held a 28-21 lead. They were up by double digits most of the second half.
Irvine Valley's bench out-scored Southwestern's, 22-12.
IVC Coach Jerry Hernandez used 13 players in the game and 10 of them scored.
The Lasers got an impressive debut from freshman wingman Jimmy Golden, who led the way with 15 points. Golden made 6 of 7 shots from the field and was 3 of 4 from three-point range.
Sophomore guard Shaquille Hunter had an off night shooting, going 5 of 15 from the field, but still ended up with 13 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Sophomore forward Austin Priest provided a solid presence off the bench with eight points and six rebounds.
Golden, Hunter and Priest each played an Irvine Valley-high 26 minutes.
Freshman forward Chris Porter chipped in five points and sophomore guard Dathon Spencer, sophomore forward Yanick Kulich and freshman center Andrew Bastien each contributed four points. Bastien also had six rebounds, Spencer had five rebounds and Kulich had four rebounds.
Southwestern was paced by Shawn Latham with 11 points, Jacob Craig with nine points and Blake Yocum with seven points and eight rebounds.
Irvine Valley plays again next Friday. It travels to Cuyamaca in San Diego County for a 5 p.m. non-conference game.
