Irvine Valley's men's basketball team picked up a much needed win Monday night, beating Orange Coast, 92-63, in an Orange Empire Conference game at home.
The victory snapped a two-game skid for the Lasers and improved their record to 12-5 overall and 2-3 in conference.
Orange Coast, which suited up just five players for the contest and finished with four after one player fouled out, saw its record slip to 3-14 overall and 0-5 in conference.
Irvine Valley led from the start.
Freshman guard JT Robinson opened up the game by draining a three-pointer. OCC tied it at 3 on a three-pointer by Jay Yu, but a three-point play by sophomore forward Austin Carter put the Lasers up for good with 16:44 left in the first half.
A three-pointer by sophomore guard Sean Murphy gave the Lasers a 21-10 advantage with 9:42 remaining in the half.
And the Lasers took a 27-13 lead after a three-point play by freshman forward Colby Waite with 6:30 to go in the half.
IVC led by as many as 19 points in the first half and took a 41-26 advantage into the break after shooting 54.8 percent (17 of 31) from the field.
Orange Coast cut it to 41-29 on a three-pointer by Jonathan Ileleji to begin the second half, but Irvine Valley went on an 11-2 run to build its lead 21 points (52-31).
The Lasers led by as many as 29 points in the second half and won by 29.
IVC shot 58.5 percent (38 of 65) for the game and out-rebounded Orange Coast, 38-21.
Carter led five Irvine Valley players in double figures with 14 points. Robinson added 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals and freshman guard Devin Owens, sophomore forward Aashad Womack and sohpomore guard Christian Louis each contributed 11 points. Womack also had six rebounds and four assists.
Freshman forward Aaron Strings and Waite each finished with eight points.
Orange Coast was paced by Ileleji with 25 points. Yu had 16 points, knocking down four three-pointers, and Myles Woods finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four steals.
Irvine Valley plays again on Wednesday, traveling to Cypress for a 7 p.m. conference game.
