The Irvine Valley men's basketball team went down by 14 points at the first half and ended up losing, 35-21, to No. 15 in the state Santa Ana in an Orange Empire Conference game at home Friday night.
IVC's record moved to 13-7 overall and 3-3 in conference play and Santa Ana improved to 17-2 overall and 4-2 in the OEC.
Santa Ana led by as many as 21 points late in the second half before IVC finished on a quick run to bring the final to 12 points.
IVC never had a lead in the contest.
Aaron De Santiago and Joshua Garland led the Dons with 18 points each while Cristien Jimenez added 10 assists, eight rebounds and six points in the contest.
Irvine Valley had four players score in double figures in the game. Sophomore post player Matt Mowers led with 20 points, seven rebounds and five steals.
Freshman guard Ahmad Alhammouri finished with 12 points, sophomore guard Yanis Aldeguer added 11 points and five rebounds and sophomore guard Sam Meza-Tallada chipped in 10 points.
But IVC shot just 37.3 percent (22 of 59) as a team in the game, while Santa Ana shot 50.0 percent.
The Lasers next play against the No. 1 team in the state on Wednesday at home at 5 p.m.
