Photos by _picsbywill_
The Irvine Valley men's basketball team needed a win after dropping two straight Orange Empire Conference contests.
And the Lasers found one Friday night with one of their best performances of the season.
Irvine Valley turned a six-point game at the half into a 67-47 victory over No. 19 in the state Cypress Friday night at home.
IVC moved its record to 12-10 overall and 4-5 in conference, while Cypress went to 15-7 overall and 5-4 in the OEC.
IVC kept its playoff hopes alive behind 16 points (14 in the first half) by freshman point guard Allen Moser and 12 points and 12 rebounds from freshman post man Matt Mowers.
Sophomore forward Josiah Reed also played a big part, dodging foul trouble, and finishing with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Irvine Valley shot 50.0 percent (22 of 44) from the field for the game and made 17 of 24 free throws.
But even more important was the Lasers' defense. IVC held Cypress to just 15 field goals in the contest. The Chargers shot 24.6 percent (15 of 61).
IVC led, 28-22, at the half, but out-scored Cypress, 39-25 in the second half.
After Cypress tied the game at 28-28 on back-to-back three-pointers by Isaiah Valenzuela, Irvine Valley went on a 14-0 run, capped on a made jumper by Mowers to make it a 42-28 game with 11:25 left to play.
The Lasers cruised from there. Irvine Valley led by as many as 23 points with 2:13 left before winning by 20.
IVC sophomore guard Ammon Allan also had seven points and five rebounds and freshman win Yanis Aldeguer, freshman guard Miguel Llamas and freshman guard Jackson Jennings each contributed five points.
Cypress was paced by Jack Rivera with 12 points, Valenzuela with 11 points and Michael Wright with 14 rebounds.
Irvine Valley has another important conference match-up next Wednesday at home, hosting Santa Ana at 6 p.m. The Dons knocked off No. 11 in the state Fullerton on Friday night.
