NATE WEST HIGHLIGHTS

LONGVIEW – Nate West was too busy talking to all his followers down on the court he didn't make time to drop by the postgame show.
 
Of course, when you're writing your own story of how the West is won, there are exceptions for a free pass.
 
Pass, you say? He did plenty of that.
 
West made history as LeTourneau University ran away with a 107-87 victory over Howard Payne Saturday to move to 11-4 overall, 4-2 in the league. West became the American Southwest Conference's all-time leading scorer, established a new record for most triple-doubles in league history and broke LETU's school career mark for assists.
 
In the same game, mind you.
 
He finished with 25 points on 10 of 15 shooting, a career-best 13 assists, 10 rebounds and four steals in another dazzling display of dynamite basketball from the preseason All-American. West surpassed former Howard Payne star Benny West's all-time league scoring mark of 1,906 points. He dashed by former LeTourneau great Brian Pace's school record 434 assists after notching his ninth Saturday. And then when he snared his 10^th rebound of the day with 2:42 to play, he set himself apart in ASC history by securing his fourth career triple-double, besting that of East Texas Baptist's Cedric Isom, who recorded his third in 2005.
 
West now has 1,915 career points and 439 assists entering Thursday's game at Belhaven. He stands third on LeTourneau's all-time scoring list, with a chance to become only the third player in school history to reach 2,000. And it all came in a week he was named to Small College Basketball's Bevo Francis Award Top 100 List.
 
"We're blessed to have him in our program," LeTourneau head coach Dan Miller said. "To set the record, and become the all-time conference leader in something, in points, is just amazing. On the same day, and in the same game to do the assists record for the school, I couldn't be more proud of Nate. He competes in every game, he's a great teammate, he's coachable, he's a great player, and even better person. He's humble. It meant a lot for our team for him to get those records here at home."
 
Records aside, this was a win that displayed the blossoming balance of this team – something Miller and assistant coach James Wallace have constructed here to continue to do what LeTourneau does best.
 
Build something special.
 
LeTourneau shot 54 percent from the floor, going 40 of 73. The YellowJackets were 20 of 35 in a second half in which they outscored HPU, 55-41, to run away with it. That's not easy to do in the ASC.
 
"There are no nights off (in this league)," Miller said. "You know, Howard Payne, they haven't got a win yet (in conference play), but they are a good team. You saw that today. They have guys that can score, and I know Troy (Drummond) is a great coach who will get them over the hump. So they're going to beat someone, and I hope they do it next week because they deserve it."
 
Five players scored in double figures for LETU, which outscored HPU, 52-34, in the paint. Korrin Taylor had a career-high 19 points, and grabbed seven rebounds, while going 9 of 13 from the field. Andrew Eberhardt had 18 points for the second time in as many Saturdays, and John Argue added 18 of his own. Justin Moore finished with 12 points, two steals, four rebounds and three assists.
 
LeTourneau drained 11 threes, including four each by West and Eberhardt, who was 5 of 10 from the floor and 4-for-4 at the line.
 
"We did some good things offensively," Miller said. "It wasn't perfect, it wasn't clean … but going forward, we do have to guard better. We had a couple breakdowns, but overall, I'm really pleased with the effort today on offense, and we'll recalibrate, so to speak, on defense, and be ready for a big week next week."
 
LETU gave up 48 points to HPU's bench, while managing just 15 of its own.
 
"We just have to stay together, one game at a time," Miller said. "We want to be peaking going into the conference tournament. As long as we can get into the conference tournament, any team can beat any team, so why not us this year?"