Huntington Beach, Calif. - The Golden West College (3-15, 1-6) men's basketball team earns their first Orange Empire Conference win 71-63 over visiting Irvine Valley College (4-15, 0-7) Wednesday night.

Both teams were evenly matched, and the game was intense from the start. The Rustlers controlled the tempo limited their turnovers which proved to be the winning formula.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle, with both teams trading leads but the Rustlers closed out the half on a 10-3 run to hold a 38-33 lead heading to the locker rooms. Shooting guard Michael Ernest led Golden West in the first half with 10 points.

In the second half, the Rustlers came out focused and never trailed while playing tight defense and moving the ball well on offense. Irvine Valley tried to mount a comeback by cutting the lead to three points with 37 seconds left, but the Rustlers put it away with layup by Daniel Yardley and clutch free throws from Soma Doherty.

Yardley led Golden West with 19 points, but he was closely followed by his teammates, Doherty with 17, Alex Ball with 14, and Ernest with 13 points.

Golden West will be back in action on Friday, January 20 with a 3pm tipoff against Riverside City College.