EDWARDSVILLE – Freshman Matthrew Wilson hit four big free throws in the final seconds of overtime, leading Edwardsville with 12 points, as the Tigers got past Staunton 48-43 in a very entertaining boys basketball game Tuesday night, Feb. 3, 2026, at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
The Tigers had to come from behind to win the game, tying the game at 41-41 on a drive in the lane in the final seconds of regulation, with Wilson calmly hitting the free throws – the first two after a technical foul called against the Bulldog bench – to help put the game away.
“Staunton is really good,” said Edwardsville head coach Dustin Battas. “And they are well-coached. Analytically, they’re the highest-ranked offense we’ve played all year, and that includes East St. Louis and Alton. It’s always the (Southwestern) Conference team, so we knew our hands were going to be full. I’m really proud of our defensive effort.
“These games are tough, because – this is a compliment to them – but they’re not built like a Southwestern Conference team, and obviously, we play a style that helps us win in the Southwestern Conference.”
Battas continued and said: “We knew the game was going to be very different than the Belleville West game, just from the styles of play. We had to change some things on defense to limit their threes. I thought that hurt us at the rim in the first half; they got to the rim more, and I thought Miccah (Butler) and Devyon (Hill-Lomax) really helped us with that in the second half, and Matt, Sire (Borden), and Brady (Niemi) really guarded their butts off.
“We tried to limit (Isiah Laux) and (Bryce Coalson), but they’re really elite scorers, and they still got some. But all-in-all, to hold them to that point total with overtime says a lot about the effort of our guys.”
Staunton head coach Ty Laux felt that the Bulldogs competed well and that their physical play gave the Tigers fits all night.
“I thought our kids really competed hard,” Laux said, “and I thought our physicality was there. In the second half, Edwardsville kind of turned up the heat a little bit; they got pretty physical with us. But I thought our kids competed and really played hard.”
Coach Laux’s strategy was to keep Rowan Weller away from the lane and limit the opportunities for the Tigers themselves. It worked well throughout the game,
“You’ve got to keep Weller out of the paint,” Laux said. “You have to make him earn everything, you’ve got to stay square on him. You can’t let Butler get any open looks, and you’ve got to keep them off the boards. And if they have some guys knock down threes, they have some guys knock down these. In the second half, they had some guys step up and knock down some threes, but you can’t take everything away. So, I thought we did a great job defensively.”
Wilson was called upon to shoot the two most important free throws of the season up to now, and he came through with flying colors.
“Matthew is really steady,” Battas said. “And the technical free throws, he had just shot two, and he’s one of our better free-throw shooters. So, we thought we’d just keep him at the line. And he’s also strong with the ball, so late game, when teams are fouling, he doesn’t lose it, he’s strong with it, so yeah, he’s a guy you want at the line.
“We don’t really think about him as a freshman much, to be honest. He’s now got a lot of experience, and his teammates believe in him, too. Matthew, in our eyes, he’s a varsity basketball player, and we don’t think of him as a freshman, because of the way he goes about his work every day.”
The Bulldogs’ defense, especially in the second quarter, did a great job of limiting the Tigers’ offense, and played tough throughout the entire game
“They did a good job of sagging off some,” Battas said, “and our advantage, you’d think, was we had a man in the post. They did a good job of taking that away, and we missed some threes. But I thought their scheme of trying to limit Brady and Miccah, and then, kind of muddy up the lane with their other guys, made it hard to score against them.”
Battas continued: “As I said, it’s a very different style than what we’ll see Friday against Alton, and what we saw against Belleville West. So, it took our guys a little bit to get adjusted to it. And at halftime, we didn’t execute as well, and I think there were some things we could have executed better, such as slipping some screens and getting certain guys open. It was really good defense by them, plus not executing things we tried to emphasize in practice.”
Jeremiah Graham had an excellent game for Staunton, scoring 17 points, and gave the Tigers fits with his penetration into the lane all night.
“I told him after the game he’s a Southwestern Conference point guard,” Battas said about the Bulldogs’ top player of the night. “He’s really quick and fast, and he’s tough. They’ve got those shooters, but he’s really what makes them hard to guard, because he’s one-on-one a lot, because of the pressure the shooters put on your defense, and his ability to get to the rim, and he’s strong around the rim, he’s lightning fast.
“One of our adjustments was to put Devyon on him, just to try to use his length some. He poses a lot of problems with the makeup of our team, with how he’s able to attack the basket.”
It was a very entertaining game, where both teams had chances, but the Tigers came up with what they needed to at the end.
“I hope it was entertaining,” Battas said. “I wish we had played better, but that’s a credit to Staunton. Staunton is really good, Ty (Laux, the Bulldogs’ coach) does a really good job, and I’m assuming people know that. But maybe being in a smaller town, maybe they don’t get the credit they deserve.
“Ty reached out three years ago about playing this game. He probably saw he was going to have a decent team; it’s hard for us to find games, being a (Class) 4A school down here. So, we scheduled this probably about three years ago. And last year, we were supposed to play there, and we had this weird bomb issue. The point is that Ty is trying to challenge those guys.
“They are very much a team that could beat us, and compete in our conference because of how they’re coached and the plays that they know. We’re just happy to get out with the win, we wish Staunton well, and that’s a team I’ll be rooting for, and I hope they make a run in (Class) 2A.”
The two teams traded baskets at the start to make the game level at 4-4 before Graham and Niemi traded threes to make it 7-7. Hill-Lomax threw down a dunk, and Weller scored to give Edwardsville an 11-7 lead, with the Tigers going to a 14-9 cushion. A three-point play from Isiah Laux cut the advantage to 14-12, with the Tigres leading 16-12 at quarter time. In the second quarter, Laux tied the game up 16-16, and Graham put Staunton ahead 20-18. Another basket and a Graham free throw gave the Bulldogs a 23018 lead at the intermission.
Staunton expanded its lead to 30-22 in the opening minutes of the third quarter, but threes by Borden helped the Tigers come to within 36-33 after the third. In the final quarter, Wilson hit a three-pointer to tie the game 36-36, and after a tie at 38-38, a Weller free throw gave Edwardsville the lead 39-38. A basket by Graham gave the Bulldogs a 41-29 lead, but Weller drove the lane with 32.2 seconds left in regulation, tied the game 41-41 to force overtime.
In overtime, Staunton missed a shot, and the Tigers went into a lengthy delay while holding the ball, as the game did not use a shot clock. Wilson later hit a pair of free throws to tie the game 42-42, and during a scramble for a loose ball, Edwardsville was granted a timeout. Ty Laux disputed the call decision and was hit with a technical foul. After the timeout, Wilson hit the free throws to give Edwardsville 44-42 with 34.9 seconds left. Butler hit two more free throws with 12.3 seconds to go to give the Tigers a 46-42 lead. The game ended with Edwardsville on top, 48-43.
Wilson led the Tigers with 12 points, while both Niemi and Weller had nine points each, Butler scored eight points, Borden had six points, and Hill-Lomax had two dunks for four points. Graham led the Bulldogs with 17 points, Laux hit for 11 points, Bryce Coalson had six points, Luke Moore had five points, and Lucas Dillon scored four points.
Edwardsville is now 16-7, and plays at Alton Friday night, then is set to play at home against Collinsville next Tuesday night, and go to O’Fallon Feb. 13, all games starting at 7:30 p.m.
Staunton is now 20-3, and hosts Gillespie Friday at 7:30 p.m., plays Columbia at home Saturday at 3 p.m., then goes to Southwestern next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
