NATE WEST SENIOR DAY | PHOTO GALLERY

LONGVIEW – How about that for an encore?

Nate West solidified himself as the National Player of the Week. Book it.

West scored a career-high 67 points on 21 of 43 shooting in his final regular season game at Solheim Arena as the YellowJackets secured their 20^th win of the season Saturday after beating Belhaven, 114-98.

West's 67 points set the American Southwest Conference and school record. Oh yeah, it came two days after he scored a career-high 47. In other words, he waited less than 48 hours to top himself. His 67 points are the most in NCAA Division III this season.

"My teammates, they told me, 'We're going to keep feeding you,'" West said. "If we were going to win the game, I had to score."

The YellowJackets matched a season-high with 16 triples. Andrew Eberhardt had 11 points, six boards, a block and three steals. Justin Moore had 10 points and eight rebounds. Kyle Matthews scored eight points, and Korrin Taylor grabbed eight boards.

West's 21 field goals set the ASC record, and his career-high 12 triples tied the league mark.

"I figured he would have a big number just the way he was playing," sixth-year coach Dan Miller said. "I thought we'd just let it come out organically, and just trust the team. Once we knew we were going to win, I never want to be disrespectful to the opponent, but Nate keeps us steady at the point guard spot."

Steady? On this day he was delirious.

West, who most certainly will win his seventh ASC Player of the Week honor this season Monday, went on a tear in the second half, draining seven three-pointers. He scored 27 points in a seven-minute span to reach 56 points. He hit a driving layup with 8:44 to go to reach 61 points, and then sank six free throws to set the record.

His 684 points this season ranks third in school single season history, eight behind Bonnie White's 692 in 1975-76. Terry Zeitlow owns the school record with 817 in 1985-86.

His seven 3s in the second half came in a 7:24 span.

"Truly amazing," Miller said. "After he had 47 points, I thought all the pressure's off to do anything special on Senior Night, let's just get a win. And Nate being Nate, without even saying anything, just got that hot hand, and I could see it in his eyes. He was going to go for a lot tonight. He was impressive."

Speaking of climbing the charts, Miller won his 100^th game, and the YellowJackets secured their third 20-win season in the last four years.

"That is a goal," Miller said after collecting some hardware with a place on the wall already in mind. "We don't set a lot of regular season goals … we did set a 20-win season team goal. So that was good."

OK, enough of the team talk. A little about yourself Miller Time.

"First of all, the 100 wins is a team effort, and the 100 wins (is attributed to) having a great assistant coach in coach James Wallace for all 100 of those," Miller said. "So I don't look at anything individually. I look at that as a collective (thing). Having Zakarius Wells as an assistant and coach Wallace for all of those six years, and all of the players we've had over the years, just blessed, truly blessed. God blesses us with this job of coaching basketball. I'm excited about it, and I want to keep it going for a long time."

For a long time, West has been a part of the equation. In his final regular season week in Solheim, he certainly put on a show to drive the train to new milestones.

"Me and Coach have been through a lot together," West said. "We won some games together, and we lost some games together, so it just shows what our relationship is."

For four years, he's etched his name in LeTourneau lore. And he saved his best for last.

"It's a family-oriented thing," West said, reflecting on all the days he's spent in LETU Blue and Gold. "I've been seeing the same people come to my games the last four years even when I wasn't receiving all the attention yet. People still had faith in me. It's really fun."

Fun? Well, 67 points is more than fun. It's record-setting, almost legendary. And on this day, when a rather game Belhaven team was impressive in its own right in many respects, those 67 meant so much more.

Yes on this day, it's how the West was won.