Irvine Valley's men's basketball team played one of its better games of the season Wednesday night, but still ended up with a loss.
The Lasers took the top team in the state, Saddleback, down to the wire before losing, 61-57, in an Orange Empire Conference contest at Saddleback.
The Gauchos earned their 15th straight victory and improved their record to 20-1 overall and 3-0 in conference.
Irvine Valley's record slipped to 8-9 overall and 1-1 in conference.
Irvine Valley trailed, 49-36, after a jumper by Saddleback's Andrew Bournes with 8:05 left to play.
But the Lasers scored five points in a row to get back in it.
Sophomore guard Chris Salas made a basket, sophomore guard Jimmy Golden hit a free throw and sophomore forward Chris Porter sank a jumper to get IVC within 49-41 with 6:18 to play.
Saddleback went up, 51-41, with 5:27 left after two free throws. But during the free throws, Saddleback coach Andy Ground was assessed two technical fouls and ejected.
Salas stepped to the line on the other end and made all four technical foul free throws to get IVC within, 51-45.
The Gauchos went back up, 54-45, after a basket by Connor Clifford and Saddleback was ahead, 57-50, with 2:50 remaining.
But two free throws by sophomore guard Ronnie Harris and then a layup by Salas after a steal and assist by Harris got IVC to within 57-54 with 1:53 left.
And after two more free throws by Saddleback, a three-pointer by sophomore guard Jalen Hall moved Irvine Valley to within 59-57 with 1:28 to play.
Irvine Valley got the ball back down the stretch with chances to tie the score, but Bastien was just off on two attempts (with 43 seconds and four seconds left).
Saddleback's Dusty Baker made two free throws with a second left for the final score.
Salas led Irvine Valley with 14 points and Bastien finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Harris finished with seven assists.
Clifford paced Saddleback with 17 points.
Saddleback out-rebounded Irvine Valley, 29-22, and out-scored IVC on second chance points, 14-3, and points in the paint, 26-16, in the contest.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday, hosting Riverside at 7 p.m.
