Irvine Valley sophomore men's basketball playere Aaron Strings has had some special moments in in his Laser career.
But he topped them all on Monday night at home in a key Orange Empire Conference game against Cypress.
With the score tied at 54 and time running down, Strings drove to the basket and finished with a left-handed layup with just over three seconds left to lift IVC to a 56-54 victory.
The win moved No. 19 in the state Irvine Valley's record to 12-6 overall and 4-3 in conference, while Cypress slipped to 12-8 overall and 4-4 in conference.
Strings, who has been stellar on both ends of the floor this season, finished with a team-high 17 points. He went 7 of 10 from the field, and added three rebounds and two blocks.
Freshman guard Gavin O'Neill knocked down four three pointers and added 12 points and sophomore guard Luc Krystkowiak finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and three assists for the Lasers.
Freshman post Charlie Henderson chipped in six rebounds and five assists and freshman guard JT Robinson had six points and two rebounds for IVC.
Cypress had three players in double figures, led by Felix Reeves. He played all 40 minutes and finished with 14 points, five assists, three rebounds and one block
Ramiah Adedibga added 12 points, five rebounds and two steals for the Chargers.
The team stats were almost identical in the final box score with both squads making 19 field goals and six three-pointers. IVC made two more free throws and Strings bucket late ended up being the difference.
IVC never trailed in the game and led by as many as 10 points (42-32) with 8:54 left in the game on two free throws by Robinson.
But Cypress kept going at Irvine Valley and cut the lead to 51-50 on a layup by Adedibga with 1:10 to play.
Strings made a layup, was fouled and converted the three-point play to give IVC a 54-50 lead the next time down the court.
But with 54 seconds left, Cypress still found a way to tie the game. Reeves was fouled and made two free throws and then after a turnover by IVC and a timeout by Cypress, the Chargers got the game to 54 all with a basket by Essayli off an assist by Grant Sii.
IVC called a timeout and that is when Strings went to work at the top of the key, drove left and scored to give IVC the key conference victory.
Irvine Valley is back at it on Wednesday in another conference game at Santa Ana at 5 p.m.
