Dons Knock Off Irvine Valley in Overtime to Claim First Place
January 18, 2014

Dons Knock Off Irvine Valley in Overtime to Claim First Place

The Dons withstood a second-half rally by the Lasers to grab the overtime victory and move into first place of the Orange Empire Conference.

Box Score

SANTA ANA - The Dons remained undefeated in Orange Empire Conference competition after defeating visiting Irvine Valley College 70-67 in overtime. The loss was the first for the Lasers (18-2, 3-1) in conference play, moving the Dons (9-8, 3-0) into first place.

The Dons took an 11-point lead into the half but Irvine Valley began chipping away at the lead in the second half before taking the lead at 38-37 on a pair of Jimmy Golden free throws just over six minutes in. Erik Emanuel put the Dons back on top with a layup, starting a series of lead changes.

The Lasers would eventually stop the back-and-forth action with a Shaquille Hunter three-pointer with seven minutes remaining that gave IVC a 50-47 lead. Irvine Valley would continue to hold that lead until Damien Benson tied the game at 57-57 with two minutes left.

Cammie Lewis followed with a three-pointer to snap the tie before the Lasers went back on top at 61-59 with 17 seconds left after a pair of free throws and a three-pointer. Down to their last shot, the Dons were able to force overtime when Lewis found Cameron Hill under the basket for a layup with one second left.

Irvine Valley opened scoring with a free throw before DuJuan Williams put the Dons up 64-62 on a three-pointer. The Dons would not relinquish the lead from there, despite the Lasers getting as close as one point with 12 seconds remaining.

Lewis led the way with 20 points while Benson contributed 11 points and Williams 10. On the boards, Hill grabbed 13 rebounds including four offensive rebounds.