Irvine Valley's men's basketball team had its chances in a non-conference game against Southwestern Tuesday afternoon at home.
The Lasers led by seven points in the first half, saw Southwestern take over and then IVC rallied in the final minutes.
But it wasn't enough.
Irvine Valley fell to Southwestern, 68-64.
IVC's record went to 2-4 overall and Southwestern leveled its record at 4-4.
The Lasers went ahead, 22-19, with 10:14 left in the first half on a three-pointer by freshman guard Roman Swizek. It was then 24-19 after a basket by sophomore forward Charlie Henderson.
And a layup by freshman guard Marcus Carter put Irvine Valley ahead, 26-19, with 9:01 remaining in the first half.
But Southwestern went on a run and out-scored Irvine Valley, 14-5, the rest of the first half to take a 43-31 advantage.
The Jaguars continued to control action in the second half and were up, 61-44, on a layup by Damascus Sanders with 10:54 left.
Irvine Valley charged back and out-scored Southwestern, 20-7, the rest of the game.
The Lasers got within four points at 65-61 with 2:16 remaining on a three-pointer by Swizek, but couldn't get any closer.
Irvine Valley was paced by freshman guard Luke Farrington with 18 points, six rebounds and two assists. Carter finished with 14 points, three rebounds and three assists and Swizek had 10 points and five rebounds for IVC.
Freshman point guard Christian Griffin added seven assists.
The Lasers shot 38.7 percent from the field (24 of 56) as a team.
Southwestern was led by Sanders with 21 points and five rebounds, Jason Danso with 18 points, five rebounds and six assists and Paris Smith with 15 points and four rebounds.
Irvine Valley plays next in the Monterey Bay Classic on Thursday, on Dec. 1 against Foothill at 7 p.m.
