LONGVIEW, Texas – With five players in double-figures led by the second-career triple-double from junior Nate West, the LeTourneau University men's basketball team managed to lead for nearly the entire game to pull away late for a 94-69 drubbing of Sul Ross State University at Solheim Arena on Thursday, December 6th.
 
Winners of two straight, LETU improves to 5-4 overall and 2-1 in American Southwest Conference play while the Lobos dropped to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in ASC action.
 
"I want to start by thanking our fans and student section who brought great energy for the 'silent night' game" said head coach Dan Miller in a post-game interview. "I thought we did some really good things in transition and played with the ball speed that we like." "Sul Ross hurt us inside with their post players, but I was pleased with our defensive intensity." "We still need to work on ball security and be ready to improve tomorrow in practice." "I am extremely proud of the guys on this team for earning this win."
 
How It Happened:

• Jumping all over SRSU right out of the gates, the YellowJackets would score the first seven points of the game before seeing Sul Ross settle in to close within three at 10-7 heading into the first media timeout with 15:54 left in the first half.
• After trading buckets for the next few minutes of action, Sul Ross would cut the LeTourneau lead down to one at 12-11 before seeing a 9-0 run capped off by a C.J. Bird triple midway through the opening period put LETU up double-digits at 21-11.
• LeTourneau would manage to keep their lead in the double-digits for most of the rest of the first half as the Lobos would be unable to string together any runs that would cut into the YellowJacket lead to trail 38-29 at the break.
• West would prove to have the hot hand entering the second half, book-ending an 8-1 LeTourneau run with a triple and three free throws to put LETU up 46-32 as the YellowJackets would threaten to put the game away early.
• Sul Ross would respond by scoring eight of the next 10 points by pushing the tempo and trying to put pressure on LeTourneau which would lead to easy transition points for SRSU as the Lobos would close the gap to 48-40 with 14:10 remaining.
• The LETU lead would be cut to seven heading into the final 10 minutes of play before a Caleb Loggins layup along with free throws from Justin Moore and Korrin Taylor pushed the YellowJacket lead to 62-51 and put the pressure back on Sul Ross as time would begin to go against them.
• Pushing their lead to 14 at 69-55 with 7:25 remaining, LeTourneau would keep their foot on the pedal and not let up as the Lobos would not have an answer for the LETU attack that would put up 56 points in the second half to earn their second-largest margin of victory this season at 25 points.

 
Key Stats:

• West's triple-double came as the Houston, Texas native scored a game-high 24 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 10 assists while going a perfect 14-for-14 at the free throw line.
• LETU would never trail in the game, scoring 46 points in the paint and gaining 27 points off 22 Sul Ross State turnovers.
• The Lobos would also find themselves with five players in double-figures, led by 14 points from Jack Kirkpatrick who would be limited to only 19 minutes of play due to foul trouble.

 
What's Next?
LeTourneau closes out pre-Christmas action with a 3 p.m. battle of the YellowJackets when Howard Payne University comes to Longview on Saturday, December 8th. Sitting atop the ASC West standings, HPU will enter Saturday's contest with a 2-6 overall record but 1-0 mark in the ASC after defeating Texas-Dallas in their last game.