Irvine Valley's men's basketball team played well, but couldn't do enough to pull off an upset against the top-ranked team in the state.
Saddleback ran its winning streak to 19 games with a 71-54 victory over the Lasers on Thursday night at home.
The game was part of the annual President's Cup series. IVC won the cup for the second straight year based on point differential after the Irvine Valley and Saddleback men's and women's teams split the total of four games during Orange Empire Conference action.
Saddleback's men's team improved its record to 25-1 overall and 10-0 with Thursday's victory, while Irvine Valley fell to 14-12 overall and 2-8 in conference.
Irvine Valley trailed, 37-29, at the end of the first half, but went on a 7-2 run to start the second half.
A layup by freshman guard Jack Taylor and then a free throw by Taylor with 15:54 remaining sliced Saddleback's lead to 39-36.
And Irvine Valley moved to within 42-40 after a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Jacob Dean.
But Saddleback responded with a 5-0 run. All five points were scored by Lyle Hexom. His layup gave the Gauchos a 47-40 advantage with 12:31 to play.
And Saddleback's lead grew from there. After a layup by Irvine Valley freshman guard Zuri Williams made it 49-44, Saddleback went on a 6-0 run to go up double digits at 55-44 with 6:38 to play.
The Gauchos took their largest lead at 71-54 with 19 seconds left after a fast-break dunk by Devonte Klines off a pass from Jalen Hall.
The dunk was the final basket of the game.
Saddleback was led by Hexom, who finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Maurice Jones added 10 points and four rebounds, Hall had nine points and four rebounds and Brandon Fagins and Breaon Brady each chipped in eight points in the Saddleback victory.
Saddleback shot 46.3 percent (25 of 54) as a team for the game.
And the Gauchos helped limit Irvine Valley to just 36.0 percent (18 of 50) shooting.
Irvine Valley was also just 1 of 12 (8.3 percent) from three-point range.
Sophomore center Patrick Sniff finished with 10 points and four rebounds to pace IVC. Freshmen guards Isaiah Milan and Taylor each had nine points. Dean had a team-high seven rebounds to go along with five points.
The game was Irvine Valley's final one at home of the regular season. The Lasers play at Riverside next Wednesday and at Santa Ana next Friday. Both games are at 7 p.m.
