SPRINGDALE — Nick Smith was unstoppable against Springdale Har-Ber on Tuesday night.

Smith scored 44 points as Bentonville defeated Har-Ber 72-57 in a 7A/6A-West Conference game at Wildcat Arena. The senior set a Bentonville school record after sharing the previous mark of 38 points with teammate Austin Heard.

Despite his big night, Smith was quick to credit the other Bentonville players on the floor.

“I have to give credit to my teammates, who really did good about getting penetration and finding me,” Smith said. “I attribute it all to them.”

Smith, a 6-foot-8 forward, dominated inside and outside and he also made six consecutive free throws. He made four 3-pointers and brought a group of Bentonville fans to their feet with a slam dunk to give the Tigers (13-3, 2-0) a 57-48 lead in the fourth quarter.

Har-Ber (5-11, 0-2) called timeouts three times after baskets by Smith in the fourth quarter, but he continued to pile up points. His 3-pointer from the corner rattled in to give the Tigers a 68-52 lead with 1 minutes, 58 seconds left to play.

“Obviously, Nick is a great scorer and he just got into a rhythm tonight,” Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. “It’s a cliché to say his teammates were finding him, but I really do think they passed the ball well.”

Har-Ber stayed close much of the night behind the balanced scoring of Alex Rice, who scored 16 points, and Brandon Buccheri and Justin Malott, who each added 15. But Smith made a 3-pointer to give Bentonville a 38-36 lead midway through the third quarter. Aaron Ward added another 3-pointer before Heard ended the period with a shot from the perimeter and a driving layup to continue that Tigers’ momentum.

Smith took control again with a three-point play to open the fourth quarter and give Bentonville a 53-41 lead.

“Nick is a good player and I don’t think he tried to do too much,” Har-Ber coach Adam Simmons said. “We’ve got to close out better and contest shots, but he did things within the flow of the game.”

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 72 , BENTONVILLE 57

Bentonville 15 15 20 22 — 72

Springdale Har-Ber 16 11 14 16 — 57

BENTONVILLE (13-3, 2-0): Smith 44, Heard 9, Dixon 8, Ward 5, Head 2, Haggard 2, Sanchez 2.

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER (5-11, 0-2): Rice 16, Buccheri 15, Malott 15, Fox 5, Jones 4, Jester 2.