Irvine Valley's men's basketball team finished off the first round of Orange Empire Conference play with what turned out to be an easy 71-35 victory over Fullerton on Wednesday night at home.
Irvine Valley remarkably had two different runs of 21 straight points in the contest.
The 35 total points was the least given up by Irvine Valley this season.
It was also the fewest points allowed by an IVC team since the Lasers gave up just 29 in a 55-29 victory over West Valley on Dec. 5, 2013.
Those 29 points last season were a program record for least given up in a game.
More importantly, it was a win for Irvine Valley.
The Lasers were coming off a tough 78-76 double-overtime loss at Santa Ana last Friday.
Wednesday's victory improved Irvine Valley's record to 11-10 overall and 4-2 in conference.
The Lasers remained tied for second place with Santa Ana in the standings. Santa Ana defeated Riverside on Wednesday.
Irvine Valley actually trailed Fullerton, 9-4, through the first five minutes.
The Lasers went on a 6-0 run, capped by a layup by freshman forward Tanner Aguera, to take a 10-9 lead with 12:59 left in the first half.
Fullerton came right back with a jumper by Kristopher Nelson go to up, 11-10.
But the Lasers then scored the next 21 points in a row to take control.
The streak started with a layup by sophomore guard Kody Eckert and was finished off by two free throws and then a jumper by freshman forward Craig Magyar.
Magyar gave IVC a 31-11 lead with 4:14 left in the first half.
Irvine Valley led, 37-18, at halftime. The Lasers shot 57.7 percent (15 of 26) in the first half to just 35.0 percent (7 of 20) by Fullerton.
The Lasers increased their lead in the second half. IVC opened the half on a 21-0 run.
A layup by sophomore guard Jalen Hall put Irvine Valley up, 58-18, with 11:10 left in the game.
Fullerton broke its second-half scoring drought with a three-pointer by Caden Williams with 9:30 left.
Irvine Valley led by as many as 41 points in the second half before earning the 36-point triumph.
The Lasers had all 13 players that suited up scoring the contest.
Hall led with 12 points. Sophomore forward Chris Porter and Aguera each ended with nine points. Magyar and Eckert each had seven points for IVC, which shot 49.1 percent as a team in the game.
Fullerton, which saw its record fall to 2-19 overall and 0-6 in conference, was led by Ryan Magee's 13 points and three steals.
Fullerton ended up shooting just 26.8 percent (11 of 41) from the field for the game.
Irvine Valley opens up the second round of conference play on Friday by hosting Orange Coast at 5 p.m.
