SG Shaquille Hunter scored 15 pts and #8 Irvine Valley rewarded a raucous homecoming crowd by winning a key Orange Empire Conference game over #3 Saddleback after an unexpected 15-0 run over the last 7 minutes to break open a close game.
Hunter gave Irvine Valley (22-3, 7-2) a 39-38 lead, scoring off a perfect give-and-go with Ctr Declan Daly with 7:50 left, and the Lasers led the rest of the way. PF Yanick Kulich scored moments later to make it 41-38.
Then came perhaps the key sequence of the game. Saddleback Ctr Eric Thompson, who battled foul trouble all night after picking up two fouls in the game's opening minutes, scored his first basket of the game on a thunderous dunk to bring the Gauchos (20-5, 6-2) within a point at 41-40.
But following the play, Thompson was assessed a technical foul for taunting. Hunter made the two resulting free throws, which started the 15-0 run. Saddleback didn't score another point until a meaningless basket in the final minute, long after the outcome of the game had been decided.
Until that final run, the teams exchanged the lead several times. Saddleback took an early 7-3 advantage despite Thompson picking up two quick fouls. Irvine Valley went on a 7-0 run to lead, 10-7, after a pull-up jumper by SF Chris Salas. Saddleback answered that with a 7-0 run of its own to lead, 20-13, after a 3-pointer by SG D.J. Feitl, which would turn out to be the Gauchos' only trey of the night.
Saddleback also led by 7 points at 24-17, and held a 26-22 lead at the half following two free thorws by SG Andrew Bournes with 47.8 seconds left in the first half. It looked like the Gauchos had survived a challenging first half, with the big crowd, Thompson's foul trouble and some cool shooting as Saddleback was just 7-for-20 (35% from the floor).
But Irvine Valley started the second half with a 5-0 spurt, taking a lead after a step-back three and a driving lay-up by Hunter that made it 27-26. The lead went back and forth over the next several minutes, until Saddleback's last lead of the game disappeared with the Hunter-Daly give-and-go play.
After Thompson's dunk, Irvine Valley seized control of the game with the decisive 15-0 run. Hunter started the run with the techincal free throws. Daly picked up a loose ball under the basket and scored to make it 45-40. A putback basket by Daly made it 47-40. Thompson missed a wide-open lay-up that would have ended Saddleback's drought, and Daly hit a jumper from the free throw line to make it 49-40 with 4:45 left.
And the run continued. PF Chris Porter stole a pass on the defensive end, and eventually PG Jalen Hall pushed the lead to 51-40 with two free throws that resulted from Thompson's 4th foul. Then frustration boiled over for Saddleback as first PF Bryan Fisher and then head coach Andy Ground were called for technical fouls after Boddie was ruled to have stepped on the end line on a fast break. Hunter made 2 of the resulting 4 free throws to make it 53-40 with 2:13 left.
At that point, Irvine Valley was in full control of the game. SG Dathon Spencer made two free throws with 1:44 left to make it 55-40. Daly split two free throws following a rebound with 41.7 seconds to go to finish the run and close out the scoring for the Lasers. PG Dalante Dunklin scored on a driving lay-up - his first field goal of the game - with about 33 seconds left to finally end the drought for the Gauchos, but by then it was much too little much too late.
Hunter led all scorers with his 15 pts for the Lasers. Daly had 12 pts plus 3 rebs and 2 blocked shots, and Porter had 6 pts and a game-high 8 rebs. Boddie led Saddleback with 10 pts, but was the only Gaucho to reach double digits. He also had 5 rebs.
With the win, Irvine Valley moves into a second-place tie with Saddleback in the Orange Empire Conference, but has won both head-to-head meetings. Both teams are a game behind Santa Ana, but each plays the Dons in the season's final two weeks so all three teams still have their own fate regarding the conference race in their own hands.
box score
Friday, February 7, 2014 - 7:30 pm
at Irvine Valley College
Orange Empire Conference
Saddleback Gauchos 42:
12-Dalante Dunklin, PG - 1/7 fg, 1/4 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 3 pts
20-Dayton Boddie, SF - 3/7 fg, 4/6 ft, 5 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 10 pts
24-D.J. Feitl, SG - 4/6 fg, 2 reb, 2 stl, 1 pf, 9 pts
25-Bryan Fisher, PF - 0/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 4 ast, 2 pf, 2 pts
32-Eric Thompson, C - 1/3 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 2 pts
21-Rashad Davis, C - 1/3 fg, 6 reb, 2 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
23-Andre McPhail, F - 2/3 fg, 3 reb, 4 pts
10-Andrew Bournes, G - 0/2 fg, 4/4 ft, 3 reb, 1 pf, 4 pts
11-D'Corrius Sampson-Young, G - 2/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 ast, 1 stl, 6 pts
31-Collin Host, F - 1 reb, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 14/42 fg (.333), 13/20 ft (.650), 29 reb, 8 ast, 3 blk, 8 stl, 15 pf, 42 pts
3-pt fg (1): Feitl
Technical Fouls: Fisher, Thompson, Coach Ground
Fouled Out: Thompson 1:44 left
Turnovers (10): Dunklin 3, Boddie 2, Feitl, Thompson, Sampson-Young, Host, team
Irvine Valley Lasers 56:
3-Jalen Hall, PG - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 ast, 2 pf, 2 pts
4-Jimmy Golden, SF - 0/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
11-Shaquille Hunter, SG - 4/12 fg, 5/8 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 15 pts
30-Chris Porter, PF - 2/5 fg, 8 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
34-Declan Daly, C - 5/7 fg, 2/5 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 3 pf, 12 pts
42-Andrew Bastien, C - 1/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 3 pts
10-Chris Salas, F - 1/1 fg, 2 pts
33-Austin Priest, F - 1/1 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 pf, 3 pts
15-Ronnie Harris, G - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 3 ast, 2 pts
22-Dathon Spencer, G - 1/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 pf, 5 pts
24-Yanick Kulich, F - 3/5 fg, 1 reb, 6 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 19/43 fg (.442), 12/19 ft (.632), 31 reb, 11 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl, 14 pf, 56 pts
3-pt fg (6): Hunter 2, Porter 2, Priest, Spencer
Turnovers (10): Golden 4, Hall 2, Hunter, Daly, Priest, Harris
Halftime Score: Saddleback 26, Irvine Valley 22
Updated Records: Irvine Valley (#8-South, #17-Calif) 22-3, 7-2 in OEC; Saddleback (#3-South, #6-Calif) 20-5, 6-2 in OEC
Saddleback led by 7 twice in the 1st half: at 20-13 after a 7-0 run and at 24-17.
Irvine Valley took a 27-26 lead early in the 2nd half. The lead went back and forth for a while.
Saddleback led 38-37 with just over 9 minutes left, and trailed 41-40 after Thompson's dunk with under 7 mins left.
Thompson was called for a T (taunting) after the play, which started a 15-0 IVC run to pull away.
