The weight has been lifted from the burly shoulders of Chris Moore.

After a pair of games, one of which didn't count toward the regular season, of scoring just 10 points in each, Moore made his college basketball decision in front of a few hundred Blue Devil, Razorback, Memphis and Auburn fans last Saturday.

And although his decision to sign with Auburn sent shockwaves throughout West Memphis and Crittenden County, Moore finally got a huge burden lifted from his mind.

And then he took it out on Little Rock Parkview on Tuesday night at Lehr Arena.

Moore scored a season-high 25 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked two shots to lead West Memphis to a 75-54 victory.

Playing with apprehension in a preseason game against Bartlett and in the season-opener against Little Rock Mills, Moore looked more like his old self on Tuesday night.

"I had a lot of weight on my shoulders picking a college," said Moore. "I was worried about losing fan bases, gaining fan bases and my head was pretty much everywhere. That was one thing I was really worried about going into my final season.

"Now that the weight has been lifted I feel more free out on the court. Tonight I just wanted to be the one playing the hardest."

The Blue Devils (2-0) outscored the Patriots 23-9 in the third quarter to break open a tight game. West Memphis led at the half 36-32.

After getting limited touches in the paint in his first two games, Blue Devil guards did a better job of feeding Moore against Parkview.

Moore sat with foul trouble for some of Tuesday night's game, but when he was on the floor he was the game-changer he's been for the last three years.

"He wasn't bad," West Memphis head coach Marcus Brown chided. "The key to the second half was just getting the ball to Chris. Defensively, we were able to get some stops, but I still wasn't satisfied with the way we finished plays. But because of the stops on defense, we were able to get some run-outs."

Moore teamed with junior point guard Jordan Mitchell, who scored 9 points, to deliver the knock-out punch in the third quarter. After Mitchell scored the first five points of the second half, Moore triggered a 14-0 run to end the third quarter, giving the hosts a 59-41 lead.

Moore picked up his third foul with 4 minutes to play in the third quarter, but Brown left him in. He proceeded to score seven of the Blue Devils' next nine points.

Also playing a vital role for the Blue Devils was senior guard Deon Williams, who canned three 3-pointers on his way to15 points.

"Deon's shot has come a long ways from last year," said Brown. "He gave us a big lift tonight."

Poor free-throw shooting was a key issue for last year's team, and while the Blue Devils clanked a lot of foul shots in the first half, they sank 8 of their last 10 to go 30 of 47 from the charity stripe.

Immanuel Hoard and Jaylon Lewis each added 7 points for West Memphis while Akyrahn Hazley scored 6.

The Blue Devils return to Lehr Arena on Saturday night against Hot Springs. The junior varsity game will begin at 6 p.m., followed immediately by the varsity contest.