COMMUNITY COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Mulligan Not Impressed With Team’s Victory

Irvine Valley almost got it perfect Friday night. The Lasers certainly scheduled the right opponent to open their new gymnasium. They also attracted a good crowd and sent the fans home happy.

This was not a night to remember, however, for Coach Bill Mulligan. Irvine defeated Palomar, 82-60, in a nonconference game at Hart Gymnasium but played far too poorly to impress Mulligan.

Irvine Valley played well in spurts, but with better execution could have won by far more than 22 points.

Palomar (2-10) played a slow-paced game, often running the 35-second shot clock to less than 10 seconds before shooting. Irvine Valley (9-5) had a tough time settling into its preferred up-tempo game.

Irvine Valley also attempted to force the ball into the hands of Keon Clark too often to please Mulligan. Clark, a 6-foot-11 center, overcame Palomar’s collapsing zone and a sore ankle to score 15 points.

“He’s got a lot of work to do,” Mulligan said of Clark, who hadn’t played for three weeks because of an injured ankle. “(But) he’s got as much talent as anybody I’ve ever had.”

Clark scored nine of his 15 points in a two-minute span early in the second half, helping push Irvine Valley to a 48-25 lead with 14:46 left to play. The Lasers biggest lead was 28 points late in the game.

“It was a very sloppy game,” Mulligan said. “We haven’t had the big guy for so long. We (the coaching staff) told them to dump it in (to Clark) too much. We’ve got some guys who can shoot outside.”

Josh Porter and Jeremy Garrett each scored 12 points for Irvine Valley.

Ryan Quinn had 13 points for Palomar.

Official dedication ceremonies to open the new gym won’t be conducted until Feb. 8, but Mulligan is happy the Lasers finally have a home to call their own.

Until Friday, they had played and practiced at Capistrano Valley and Laguna Hills high schools, often in the evening after those schools’ teams had finished.

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In the Cypress tournament:

Long Beach 73, Golden West 67--Pete Sverkos of Long Beach scored 25 of his 28 points in the second half to help Long Beach rally in one semifinal. Golden West led, 36-27, at the half and led until Sverkos made a three-pointer with 6:49 to put the Vikings (13-3) ahead, 61-59.

Golden West’s Michael Dean scored with nine seconds left to cut the Long Beach lead to, 69-67, but the Rustlers never got closer.

Cypress 89, El Camino 83--Gil Gonzales (23 points) made six free throws in the final 37 seconds to keep Cypress (11-4) ahead. The Chargers play Santa Monica for the consolation championship today at 3 p.m.

In the consolation round of the Pasadena tournament:

Fullerton 67, Rio Hondo 51--Fullerton (8-7) moved into the consolation final. Marcus Austin scored 21 and Jason Cunningham had 19 for Fullerton, which plays Rancho Santiago today at 4.

Rancho Santiago 80, East LA 60--Nick Holt scored a career-high 29, making 10 of 14 from the field for Rancho Santiago (9-3). His previous best came Thursday when he scored 28 in a 109-100 loss to Cuesta.