MOORPARK, Calif. (Feb. 22, 2026) – The California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A) Men's Basketball State Championship Tournament opened tonight inside of Raider Pavilion where the No. 14 Moorpark College Raiders fell 66-58 to the No. 19 Irvine Valley Lasers.

IVC won the tip-off and controlled the pace of play throughout the first half by forcing MC mistakes and producing several notable scoring runs, including a 6-0 start. Roman Finney put up the first crooked numbers for the Raiders and Noah Cotton pulled the teams within one at 8-7 forcing an Irvine Valley timeout. A minute later he knotted things at 10-10 on a longball. The Lasers regrouped and went on a 10-0 run, capped off by a fast break layup from Ahmad Alhammouri and really didn't look back for the remaining 10:18 of the opening half.

Tidiane Sy came off the bench for a 3-point spark, and after another IVC run, Josh Castaniero connected for a triple to pull the teams within nine. Despite the little pushes, Irvine Valley took a 39-25 advantage into the locker rooms.

The second half started with a pair of free-throws from Jozef Zlocha and despite chipping away at the deficit, especially down the stretch, the Raiders were unable to overcome the Lasers before the final buzzer sounded.

A poor shooting showing, overall, hurt the Raiders tonight as the team went 18-for-61 (29.5 percent) from the field and the squad squared up for just six triples in 28 attempts for a 21.4 three-point shooting percentage.

Castaniero turned in a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, adding five assist, three steals and a block as well. Finney shared the game-high with 16 points while Sy and Cotton concluded with 11 and 10 points, apiece, respectively. Cotton also added seven rebounds in the loss.

Matt Mowers led the Lasers with 16 points, on a night where 10 different players added to the total, and eight rebounds.

Moorpark (19-7) bids farewell to six sophomores while Irvine Valley (17-12) advances to play No. 3 Cerritos on Saturday, Feb. 28.

Box Score: IVC 66, MC 58
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