BELLEVILLE – Miccah Butler and Brady Niemi led three Edwardsville players in double figures with 15 points on five threes each, as the Tigers went on an 11-0 run early in the opening quarter, and a 16-0 run from the end of the first half to the start of the third quarter to help hold off Belleville East 52-47 in a Southwestern Conference boys basketball game Friday night, Jan. 9, 2026, at the East gym.
Edwardsville’s run was the key difference in the game, as was the Tigers’ tough defense, which bent but didn’t break as the game went on. It was a great team win in a tough environment.
“I’m proud of our guys,” said Edwardsville head coach Dustin Battas, “This is a tough place to play, and they played well. They’ve got some athletic guys, and they did a couple of different things on defense. I thought the start of the third quarter was big for us. We changed a few things at halftime, and our guys were able to execute that well.
“We had some guys play extended minutes tonight, and really had to dig deep, and altogether, it was a great team win. Friday night road wins in the Southwestern Conference are hard, so just really proud of our guys and proud of our execution.”
The Tigers played excellent team defense all night, keeping the Landers out of the lane, and also rebounded well.
“I thought we did a good job of keeping them out of the lane,” Battas said, “and then Devyon (Hill-Lomax) had 14 rebounds. The biggest part of defense is how you’re going to finish off possessions, so being able to rebound the ball, I thought our guards were really active keeping them out of the lane, with Miccah, Devyon, Matthew (Wilson), and Max (McMicheal) really provided strong support around the rim, and took care of rebounds, which was good for us.”
The Tigers’ experience showed greatly in a tremendous team win.
“I thought we had some experienced guys,” Battas said, “Rowan (Weller) and Miccah had been in these environments before, and I thought they were very consistent. Matthew did some really good things. He was physical on defense; he got us going early against their zone.
“Matt made a couple of shots in the lane. We have a lot of confidence in Matt. He practices well; he has experienced guys around him, and Devyon.
“Devyon’s a senior. So, two really big contributions by those guys, along with Brady (Niemi), Rowan, Miccah, and Tucker (Lindstedt, who’ve been through it a little bit.”
The Tigers face a big game next Friday at home in a rematch against East St. Louis, one of the best teams in the state, which defeated Edwardsville back in December.
“We look forward to having a couple of home games next week, ”Battas said, “and our guys like practice. So, we’ll try to get better every day, and have our best game plan for Tuesday (a home game against St. Louis Gateway STEM), and we have to have some good practices so we have a chance to beat East Side on Friday. Just proud of the guys, and a good win.”
The Lancers kept battling and coming back throughout the game, but couldn’t get over the hump, as the two runs by the Tigers proved to be the difference.
“Oh, most definitely,” said East head coach Davis Franklin. “I’m proud of my guys; we stuck to the game plan. We just can’t let a team like that, that can actually shoot go on a run.. I think they went on a 13-0 run in the third quarter’ it went from a three-point game to a 16-point game, So, we’ll just look at the film, we’re going to get back to work, so we’ll be better next time.”
Brown started the game with a pair of free throws to give East a brief 2-0 lead, but the Tigers caught fire at the onset, as Niemi and Butler hit three straight threes to open a 9-2 lead for Edwardsville, then Wilson hit in the lane to make it 11-2. After a Lancer free throw, Butler hit another three to give the Tigers a 14-3 lead, but East came back on a three by Johnson, and baskets from Jalen Coleman and Brown to cut the deficit to 14-10. A basket by Niemi gave Edwardsville a 16-10 lead at quarter time.
The sides traded baskets at the start of the second quarter, but a three-pointer by Wilson upped the Tiger lead to 21-14. Undaunted, Alexander made it 21-17, and it seemed to spark the Lancers, who stayed close and tied the game at 25-25 on a basket by Kelton Harris. The Tigers took the lead back before the interval on a three-pointer to take a 28-25 lead.
The Tigers used the momentum from the late three to go on a decisive 3-0 run, with Weller and Butler doing much of the damage. Edwardsville went ahead 41-25. The Lancers, led by Brown, came back in the remainder of the quarter and cut the lead to 45-39 at the end of the period.
In the final quarter, the Tigers maintained their edge, playing well, and Hill-Lomax dominated the boards, going ahead 51-41. The Lancers had one more comeback attempt in them, cutting the lead to 51-47 late, but a free throw by Weller gave Edwardsville the needed breathing room as the Tigers won 52-37.
Both Niemi and Butler led the Tigers with 15 points each, while Weller had 11 points, Wilson scored seven points, and Hill-Lomax had four points. Brown led the Lancers with 10 points, while Coleman hit for eight points, Alexander scored six points, Williams hit for five points, and Bryce Bennett, Kenny Wilson, and Tre’Vian Danely all had two points.
The Tigers host Gateway STEM on Tuesday, and East St. Louis next Friday, both games starting at 7:30 p.m., then play at Belleville Althoff Catholic next Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
