The Irvine Valley men's basketball team needed a win and got one on Wednesday night at home with some clutch plays down the stretch.
The Lasers defeated El Camino, 56-52, to improve their record to 4-7 overall. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Lasers.
El Camino, which had been off to a hot start to the season, saw its record slip to 8-4 overall.
The Warriors led, 50-47, after a layup by Gabe Hubbard with 2:44 left in the contest. Hubbard had a huge night for El Camino.
The Lasers pulled within 50-48 after one free throw by freshman guard Luke Farrington with 2:28 to play.
And then after an IVC stop on the defensive end, Farrington hit a three-pointer in the corner off a pass from sophomore post player Charlie Henderson to give the Lasers a 51-50 lead with 1:41 left.
Irvine Valley got another stop with freshman wing Makai Caruth coming up with a steal and it turned into a basket by freshman guard Roman Swizek.
Swizek hit a pull-up jumper to put IVC in front, 53-50, with 56 seconds to go.
Caruth grabbed a big defensive rebound after a miss on a layup by Hubbard the next time down and with 25 seconds left, El Camino had to foul.
Farrington stepped to the line with 14 seconds left and knocked down two free throws to make it a 55-50 game.
Farrington finished with 17 points in 33 minutes for the Lasers. Henderson had another productive game with nine points, 12 rebounds four assists and two blocks.
The Lasers had 10 players score in the game in the team effort.
Hubbard led El Camino with 29 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and four steals in 34 minutes.
Irvine Valley plays again next Tuesday, opening up Orange Empire Conference play with a home game against Orange Coast at 6 p.m.
