irvine Valley's men's basketball team battled and made it a game late in the second half at Santiago Canyon on Friday night.
The Lasers, who trailed by as many as 14 points in the game, pulled within two points at 66-64 with two and a half minutes left after a layup by freshman guard Santos Cordero, but IVC was out-scored, 10-6, down the stretch in a 76-70 loss.
Irvine Valley dropped its fifth game in a row and slipped to 13-11 overall and 3-7 in conference.
Santiago Canyon went to 18-6 overall and 7-3 in the OEC.
IVC was led by sophomore post player Matt Mowers, who had 22 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Freshman guard Ahmad Alhammouri added 15 points and four rebounds and Cordero contributed 14 points for the Lasers.
Jacob De Armas led Santiago Canyon to the win with 23 points on 8 of 12 shooting and added three assists and two steals.
Irvine Valley plays its final two home games of the season next week, hosting Riverside on Tuesday at 5 p.m. and then Orange Coast on Thursday at 5 p.m.
