Men's basketball team holds on to beat Miramar
Nov 29, 2008
The Irvine Valley men's basketball team couldn't do much wrong in the first half against Miramar Saturday night in a non-conference game at home.
But the second half was a different story.
After leading by 18 points at halftime, the Lasers had to hold on down the stretch to beat the Jets, 68-58, for their fourth straight victory.
The win improved the team's record to 5-3 overall.
Irvine Valley was led in the victory by sophomore guard Jeff Ledbetter, who finished with 25 points and four steals. He had 18 of those points in the first half after making all six of his shots from the floor, including four three-pointers.
IVC used Ledbetter's 18 points along with seven points from sophomore forward Brandon Hucks to race out to a 42-24 lead at halftime.
The Lasers led, 47-29, after a basket by sophomore Jon Reed with 16:12 left in the game.
But Miramar didn't go away quietly. The Jets went on a 12-0 run over the next 5:20 to pull to within 47-44 with 10:52 to play.
Sophomore Pat Eveland had 10 of those points during the run.
Miramar tied the game at 49-49 on a three-pointer by Chase Fraser with 8:46 to go and later at 56-56 with 4:15 to play on a jumper by Sean Allen.
But Ledbetter came through for Irvine Valley when it needed him most. He hit a three-pointer on the Lasers' next possession to make it a 59-56 game.
And then a minute later Ledbetter made another basket to give IVC a 61-56 lead.
Freshman forward Kwame Alexander put the game out of reach. He grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 1:10 to play and then knocked down one free throw with 49 seconds left to give Irvine Valley a 64-58 lead.
IVC ended up out-scoring Miramar, 12-2, over the final 4:15.
Besides Ledbetter, Hucks finished with 11 points and five assists before fouling out.
Sophomore center Matt Ballard and Reed each had nine points. Reed added eight rebounds and three assists. Ballard also had six rebounds and Alexander finished with seven points and eight rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
Irvine Valley shot 40 percent (18 of 45) for the game. It was solid from the line, making 27 of 34 attempts (79.4 percent).
Miramar (4-3) was led by Eveland with 28 points. He was averaging 27.3 points going into the game.
Allen had 12 points and four steals and Fraser added seven points for the Jets.
Irvine Valley plays again in the Beaver Classic hosted by American River College in Sacramento next Thursday through Saturday. The Lasers open Thursday night against Sacramento City at 8 p.m.