Irvine Valley's men's basketball team jumped out to a double-digit lead and then held on down the stretch to knock off Chaffey, 67-64, in the opening round of the California Community College Athletic Association Regional Playoffs Wednesday night on the road.
Irvine Valley, seeded No. 20, pulled off the upset over No. 13 Chaffey behind 17 points from sophomore forward Austin Carter, 13 points from sophomore guard Sean Murphy and nine points each from freshmen guards Aaron Strings and Ricky Robinson.
Sophomore forward Aashad Womack contributed seven points and added a team-high 12 rebounds.
The Lasers snapped Chaffey's 17-game win streak. The Panthers had gone unbeaten in winning the Inland Empire Athletic Conference title.
Irvine Valley trailed just once the whole game and that was after Chaffey scored the opening basket of the contest.
Outside shooting early was the key. Irvine Valley scored its first 24 points on three-pointers.
Three three-pointers by Robinson, two three-pointers by Murphy and three-pointers by sophomore guard Christian Louis, Strings, freshman guard Devin Owens and Murphy gave IVC a 24-16 lead.
The Lasers took a 35-24 lead into the half. IVC went 9 of 21 from three-pointer range in the opening half.
Irvine Valley continued to build on its lead in the second half. The Lasers took their largest advantage at 60-46 on a three-point play by Murphy with 5:36 left in the contest.
But Chaffey didn't give in. The Panthers went on a 15-2 run over the next four minutes.
Chaffey pulled within 62-61 on a layup by Donyae Molett with 1:22 to go.
Irvine Valley answered with a layup by Carter to push its lead to 64-61.
Chaffey's Manu Oulai hit a layup with 41 seconds to play to make it a one-point game again.
Murphy was fouled and connected on one of two free throws to give Irvine Valley a 65-63 lead with 30 seconds to play.
Molett was fouled with eight seconds left and had a chance to tie the game for the Panthers at the line. But he made just one of two foul shots and the Lasers held on.
Carter was fouled and sank two free throws to make it 67-64 with seven seconds left.
Darren Williams' three-pointer was blocked by Carter and Strings grabbed the rebound at the buzzer.
Irvine Valley improved its record to 17-12 overall, while Chaffey saw its season end with a record of 23-6.
