Irvine Valley's men's basketball team opens its Orange Empire Conference schedule Friday night against one of the toughest squads in the state.
Undefeated on the season so far Fullerton, which is also the defending state champion, takes on the Lasers in Hart Gymnasium at 6 p.m.
IVC is ranked No. 25 in the state and has a record of 10-1 overall.
The Lasers were off Wednesday, receiving a bye on the first night of OEC play.
IVC last played on Dec. 13, beating MiraCosta, 56-51, in the Cypress Crossover event.
Freshman guard JT Robinson led the way for the Lasers with 18 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Sophomore forward Aashad Womack added 13 points and 12 rebounds and freshman forward Colby Waite had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore forward Austin Carter contributed seven points in the win for IVC.
On the season, Carter is averaging 11.6 points and 6.8 rebounds a game, Robinson is averaging 10.7 points, Womack averages 8.8 points and 7.1 rebounds, sophomore wing Christian Louis averages 8.2 points and Waite is averaging 7.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for Irvine Valley.
Fullerton beat Santa Ana in its Orange Empire Conference opener, 64-39, to improve to 12-0 overall.
Fullerton out-shot the Dons 46.6% to 29.2%.
It was also the second time this season that the Hornets held a team under 40 points.
They held Victor Valley to 39 points in a win on Dec. 7.
Tawon Elston was the game's leading scorer with 18 points.
Ronnie Stapp and DJ Houston both put up 12 points for FC.
Houston also had seven rebounds, eight assists, seven steals and a blocked shot.
Jacob Eyman added six points.
On the year, Fullerton, which is ranked No. 2 in the state, is getting 16.6 points per game from Elston, 11.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals from Omajae Smith, 10.7 points and 6.1 rebounds from Eyman, 10 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists from Houston and 8.8 points a game from Stapp.
