The Irvine Valley men's basketball team played its best game of the year on Wednesday night against one of the top squads in the state.
The Lasers came out ready to play, were prepared, battled and fought all game long.
IVC earned its first win in Orange Empire Conference play with a 93 (season-high for points) to 86 victory against No. 8 in the state Santiago Canyon.
Santiago Canyon had just knocked off No. 2 Fullerton last Friday and was on a five-game win streak.
It was the most points Irvine Valley has scored this season since it beat College of the Desert, 84-63, in its first game of the season on Nov. 2.
The Lasers shot a season best 58.6 percent (34 of 58) from the field, made 8 of 17 three-pointers and had 17 assists on their 34 field goals.
Irvine Valley led by as many as 20 points midway through the first half. IVC took a 30-10 lead with 8:57 in the first half on a basket by freshman guard Jackson Jennings off of an assist by freshman point guard Allen Moser.
Santiago Canyon clawed back the rest of the half, but the Lasers still led, 49-45, at the half.
And Irvine Valley out-scored the Hawks, 44-41, in the second half for the win.
Freshman wing Yanis Aldeguer finished with 23 points and shot 8 of 11 from the field to lead IVC.
Moser added 19 points and six assists. He made important free throws down the stretch, including two with 15 seconds left to push Irvine Valley's lead to 93-86, and secure the win.
Laser freshman forward Matt Mowers added 12 points, five assists and three steals and sophomore guard Ammon Allan ended with 10 points (3 of 5 from three-point range), eight rebounds and two assists.
IVC freshman wing Garrett Trayer also had a big game, adding eight points, five rebounds and two steals. He made 2 of 3 three-pointers.
Santiago Canyon was led by EJ Bryson with 23 points, five assists, one block and one steal and Colin Weems, who sccored 13 points, made three three-pointers and chipped in four assists and three steals.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday in another conference game at Riverside at 7 p.m.
#GoLasers
