PANTHERS TAKE IT TO THE FINAL SECONDS V IRVINE VALLEY IN PLAYOFFS

Tonight, the Panthers hosted #20 Irvine Valley in the first round of state playoffs, falling to the Lasers 67-64.  Chaffey came off the tipoff strong scoring first for its only lead of the game.  IVC with nine three-pointers in the first half suddenly took a commanding jump leading by as much as 14 before the break.  The teams went into the half 35-24.

After emerging from the locker rooms the Panthers were on back to their normal game, playing an agressive defense and landing baskets to close the gap to within one shot with three minutes on the clock.  With just eight seconds remaining, the Panthers found themselves ready to tie the game and potentially throw the teams into overtime but a missed free throw folowed by a foul opportunity by IVC sealed the game with too little left on the clock to come back.

The Panthers played tonight with a different starting lineup, bringing Nikola Ivkovic in for Aaron Johnson who was hit with the flu.  Ivkovic scored 11 for the Panthers including three 3s.  Conference MVP Darren Williams had 15, as did freshman Donyae Molett.  Manu Oulai had the game's only double-double with 16 points and 18 rebounds.  Oulai completes his Chaffey career with 631 rebounds and 856 points.

"I didn't think I'd be ending this year here tonight in the Sports Center but it's just one of those unfortunate things," commented Jeff Klein.  "I'm really proud of the effort tonight; we came back from 14 points down and had a chance to tie it with 7 seconds.  It just wasn't meant to be."

The Panthers complete the 2019-20 season with a 23-6 overall record and undefeated IEAC champions.