LONGVIEW – Nate West is inching closer, and LeTourneau University became the first to do something no other American Southwest Conference team had done this year.
 
West, a senior guard from Houston, is climbing up the ASC and LETU record books list, while the YellowJackets handed Sul Ross State its first league loss this year in Thursday's 85-79 victory in Solheim Arena. West moved closer to the ASC all-time scoring mark and the YellowJackets' career assists record. He is 17 points shy of the league scoring record, and nine assists away from the school record.
 
"Hats off to Sul Ross, they were 5-0 in the conference for a reason," YellowJackets coach Dan Miller said. "But I love the way we came out after halftime, and had a focus, had it in our eyes. It's about how you respond, it's about adversity, and how you deal with it."
 
LETU (10-4, 3-2 ASC) overcame a sluggish first half after shooting 37 percent from the field by knocking down 57 percent of its field goals in the second half to turn what was an eight-point Lobos lead into a 13-point advantage midway through the second half. Tristen Licon's three-pointer at the 6:49 mark of the first half put SRSU (8-7, 5-1) on top, 25-17. The Jackets whittled it down to three when Warren Richardson buried a triple at the 2:40 mark, and West canned a 3-pointer of his own after a steal by Kyle Matthews to tie it at 31-31 just inside two minutes remaining.
 
"It feels really good when you have a lot of good teammates," said West, who finished with 28 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, four steals and a block. "It makes it easier on me."
 
The YellowJackets made it easier on themselves in the second half, scoring 27 points off eight Lobos turnovers, while giving it away just three times after the break.
 
Trailing 50-49 early in the second half, LETU went on a 19-6 run to take its largest lead of the game, 68-55 at the 9:12 mark. West scored eight points in that stretch, Justin Moore had a transition bucket and triple, Matthews had a bucket and three assists, and Andrew Eberhardt topped it off with a lay-in on the break. Sul Ross State cut it to four on two occasions, but Eberhardt and West salted the game away at the free throw line.
 
West went 9-for-9 from the stripe, and Eberhardt was 6-for-6. The YellowJackets were 16 of 19 at the line.
 
"Plenty of practice," West said as he moved back on top of the school record book list for free throw percentage with an .856 career mark. "Hours and hours in the gym."
 
Eberhardt and Moore each finished with 15 points, and Richardson had 12. Richardson was 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
 
"He gave us a big lift today," West said of Richardson. "Those threes were so big."
 
The YellowJackets went 11 of 28 from three-point range for 39 percent. Sul Ross State was 4 of 23 from long distance.
 
LETU will host Howard Payne at 3 p.m. Saturday in another opportunity to perform in front of its faithful at Solheim.
 
"Our student section was great," Miller said. "With the defensive chants, with the gym rockin' … we have a huge advantage when we play in front of our student section."