The Irvine Valley men's basketball team won its 2024-25 season opener with an 84-63 victory over College of the Desert on Friday night at home.
It was the first win for new men's basketball coach Jason Garey (pictured with mentor, legend and now assistant coach Jerry Hernandez).
Garey had been the Irvine Valley women's head coach the last two seasons and was a men's assistant coach for a decade.
Irvine Valley got off to a hot start and led, 42-29, at the half after shooting 45.5 percent (15 for 33), including 50.0 percent (5 of 10) from the three-point line.
And IVC pulled away in the second half, out-scoring the Roadrunners, 42-34, over the final 20 minutes.
Irvine Valley was led by sophomore guard Ammon Allan, who finished with 19 points and six assists in 17 minutes.
Four players scored in double figures for the Lasers.
Freshman guard Yanis Aldeguer added 13 points and four steals. He went 5 of 10 from the field and 3 of 5 from three-point range.
Sophomore forward Ethan Tauber added 12 points, four rebounds and two blocks and freshman guard Jackson Jennings contributed 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal in the win.
Wilfred Weir led the Roadrunners with 16 points, four rebounds and two assists.
The Lasers held College of the Desert to 34.5 percent (19 of 55) shooting from the field in the game.
Irvine Valley plays again on Thursday in its own Irvine Valley Classic.
IVC hosts College of the Canyons at 7 p.m.
