Irvine Valley's men's basketball team played Cypress close most of the way, but again lost another tight game in Orange Empire Conference action.
Cypress used a 14-7 run early in the second half to pull away and then hold off Irvine Valley, 50-45, at IVC on Wednesday night.
Cypress improved its record to 19-5 and stayed in third place in conference with a 6-2 mark.
Irvine Valley saw its record fall to 13-11 overall and 1-7 in conference.
The Lasers' last three losses in conference play have been by four, one and five points. IVC also lost a game earlier in conference in overtime at Orange Coast.
Neither team shot the ball well Wednesday night with Irvine Valley going 18 of 51 (35.3 percent) from the field and 2 of 17 (11.8 percent) from three-point range.
Cypress shot 35.2 percent (19 of 54) from the field and was only 20.7 percent (6 of 29) on three-pointers.
Jordan Fleck paced Cypress with 15 points. Jeremy Wright and Austin Payne each finished with 10 points. Wright also had five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Nolan Kelly added nine points and five rebounds.
Irvine Valley out-rebounded Cypress, 43-30, but the difference was turnovers where Irvine Valley committed 16 and Cypress only had six.
Cypress out-scored Irvine Valley, 17-6, on points off turnovers.
Irvine Valley got a season-high 15 points and 10 rebounds from sophomore center Patrick Sniff in the defeat. Sophomore guard Jacob Short had six points and sophomore forward Tanner Aguera and freshman guard Isaiah Milan each had five points.
Irvine Valley was down by as many as 13 points midway through the second half, and Cypress maintained its 13-point cushion at 50-37 after a basket by Brian Robbs with 5:14 to play.
IVC battled hard to the end, but couldn't get any closer than the final deficit of five points.
The Lasers play again on Friday at home, hosting Orange Coast at 7 p.m. It will be IVC's annual Coaches vs. Cancer event.
