Irvine Valley's men's basketball team went on the road and battled against a team that it need to beat to move up in the Orange Empire Conference standings.
And the Lasers, chasing a playoff spot, won in overtime at Santa Ana, 65-62, Wednesday night.
IVC moved into fifth place in the OEC standings with the key win.
Irvine Valley improved its record to 16-11 overall and 6-7 in conference.
Santa Ana went to 19-8 overall and 5-8 in the OEC.
The Lasers finish the regular season on Friday against one of the top teams in the state, Fullerton, at 5 p.m.
On Wednesday, Irvine and Santa Ana were even through 40 minutes.
Both teams scored 23 points in the first half and then 30 apiece in the seond half.
Sophomore Matt Mowers gave the Lasers the lead for good in overtime at 55-53 with a layup at the 4:38 mark.
And then freshman guard Ahmad Alhammouri scored four straight points to help the Lasers put the game away.
His layup with 4:16 to play put IVC ahead, 57-53.
Alhammouri, freshman guard Santos Cordero and sophomore wing Nate Tuttle converted important free throws down the stretch to lift the Lasers to the triumph.
Irvine Valley had four players score in double figures on the night.
Mowers finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and three assists.
Alhammouri ended up with 10 points and two steals and Tuttle contributed 10 points, four assists, four steals and two blocks in the game.
Sophoore guard Sam Meza-Tallada also had 10 points, added nine rebounds, three assists and four steals for the Lasers.
