Irvine Valley's men's basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak at the perfect time Wednesday night.
The Lasers opened Orange Empire Conference play with a dominating 60-40 win at Orange Coast.
Irvine Valley leveled its record to 8-8 overall. Orange Coast's record dropped to 2-11 overall.
IVC jumped all over Orange Coast from the start, taking a 22-4 lead with 6:32 left in the first half after three straight baskets by sophomore guard Chris Salas.
Irvine Valley led, 31-22, at halftime.
Orange Coast opened the second half with a 9-1 run to get to within 33-31 after a free throw by Deandre Page with 14:47 left in the game.
But Irvine Valley helped hold the Pirates to just nine more points over the final 15 minutes of the contest.
IVC regrouped and pulled away down the stretch.
A three-pointer by Salas with 6:47 to play put Irvine Valley back ahead by double digits at 45-35.
Another three-pointer by Salas pushed the Laser lead to 49-36 with 4:16 to play.
Salas had 21 points to lead all scorers in the contest. He shot 8 of 13 from the field, 2 of 5 from three-point range and 3 of 4 from the free throw line.
Freshman forward Tanner Aguera added eight points, freshman forward Craig Magyar had seven points and five rebounds and sophomore guard Ronnie Harris had a nice all-around game with four points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the IVC win.
Brad Buchignani led OCC with 10 points, while Devasyia Hagger added nine points and nine rebounds.
Irvine Valley shot just 35.1 percent (20 of 57) from the field for the game, but held Orange Coast to only 28.3 percent (15 of 53).
The Lasers struggled from three point, hitting just 2 of 17, but outscored the Pirates, 18-4, from the free-throw line.
Irvine Valley also out-rebounded Orange Coast, 48-35. Besides Harris' 11 rebounds, sophomore forward Chris Porter had eight rebounds and sophomore center Andrew Bastien had six rebounds.
Irvine Valley has a bye in conference action on Friday. The Lasers play again next Wednesday at Saddleback, which is ranked No. 1 in the state, at 7 p.m.
