Irvine Valley's men's basketball team bounced back from its first loss of the season last week with a nice win on Wednesday night at Mt. San Antonio.
The Lasers, who are ranked No. 25 in the state, took down the Mounties, 76-60, to improve their record to 9-1 overall.
After winning nine straight contests to start the season, IVC fell, 70-67, in the title game of the Monterey Peninsula Tournament last Saturday.
Irvine Valley got off to a slow start Wednesday night, trailing Mt. SAC, 7-1, right off the bat, but rallied throughout the rest of the first half.
IVC tied the game at 7 on a three-pointer by Jesse Stines with 15:21 left in the first half and then took the lead for good at 9-7 on a layup by sophomore forward Aashad Womack with 14:46 left in the first half.
Trailing, 18-17, freshman forward Colby Waite sank a three-pointer to give Irvine Valley a 20-18 lead with 9:36 remaining in the half.
IVC took its biggest lead of the first half on back-to-back layups by Womack and sophomore guard Christian Louis. Louis was also fouled on the play and made the free throw for a 35-24 lead with 2:47 remaining.
The Lasers carried a 39-30 lead into the half.
Sophomore forward Austin Carter got things started right for IVC to begin the second half. His basket pushed the team's advantage to 41-30.
A three-pointer by Womack gave Irvine Valley a 54-43 lead with 11:08 to go in the game.
Mt. SAC got within five points (54-49) on a three-pointer play by Kalique Mitchell with 9:40 to play, but IVC put the game away after that.
The Lasers went on a 11-3 run over the next five minutes, capped by a layup by Womack to go up, 65-52 with 5:07 left.
Mt. SAC didn't get closer than 10 points the rest of the game.
Irvine Valley got another solid, balanced effort.
Womack led the way with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Freshman guard JT Robinson added 13 points, freshman wing Aaron Strings had nine points and Stines and Waite each added eight points. Owens finished with six points, five rebounds and two steals for the Lasers.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday. The Lasers are taking part in the Cypress Crossover event. IVC plays MiraCosta at 7 p.m.
