Irvine Valley's men's basketball team tried to rally, but came up just short, falling to Riverside, 59-55, in an Orange Empire Conference game at home on Friday night.
It was IVC's fifth straight defeat and dropped the team's record to 12-9 overall and 0-5 in conference.
Riverside improved to 11-11 overall and 3-3 in conference.
Riverside led, 27-21, at the end of the first half and was up by as many as eight points early in the second half.
The Tigers took a 31-23 lead on a layup by Andy Cleaves with 18:41 left in the game.
The teams traded runs after that.
Irvine Valley scored 13 straight points, capped by a basket by sophomore forward Jacob Dean to go ahead, 36-31, with 13:57 to play.
Riverside then ran off 11 points in a row. A free throw by Jordan Bryant put Riverside up, 42-36, with 9:29 left.
IVC tried to play catch up after that.
The Lasers got within 42-41 on two free throws by freshman guard Chris Lott, were within 45-43 on a Lott basket and pulled to 47-45 after a jumper by Jacob Short.
But a 6-0 run gave the Tigers a 53-45 advantage with 1:37 left. And RCC led, 54-47, with 1:12 to go.
A three-pointer by Short and then a three by Lott got Irvine Valley to within 55-53 with 38 seconds left. And after two free throws by freshman Zuri Williams, Irvine Valley was within 57-55 with 30 seconds to play.
IVC had chances after Riverside turned the ball over, but back-to-back three-pointers by Short were just off the mark.
Bryant sank two free throws with seven seconds left to give Riverside the win.
The Tigers shot 36.5 percent (19 of 52) from the field in the contest. Kevin Pritchett had 20 points and nine rebounds and Bryant finished with 11 points and nine rebounds to pace Riverside.
Riverside out-rebounded Irvine Valley, 50-36, for the game.
Irvine Valley, which shot just 29.0 percent (18 of 62) from the field was paced by Lott's 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Dean's 12 points. Short chipped in eight points and four assists.
Irvine Valley plays again next Wednesday, hosting Santa Ana at 5 p.m.
