Niles never trailed and built up a 14-point lead in its boys basketball game Friday against Mattawan.

But the Vikings weren’t able to celebrate a win until the final buzzer sounded as Niles held off the Wildcats, 62-59, in Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West Division action.

It was the first game since Dec. 20 for Niles, which improved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in West Division.

“It looked like we didn’t play in awhile,” said Vikings coach Todd Pawielski, whose team led 26-12 after getting a basket from Quintin Irby with 4:55 left in the second quarter. “I thought we had a lot more energy tonight on the offensive end than the defensive end. I’m pretty disappointed in our defensive effort tonight. I didn’t recognize a lot of things that we did tonight. I just don’t feel like that should happen as good as this group is and with all the seniors that we have. We’re glad to get out of here with a victory. We fought when we needed to, but overall tonight our play was disappointing.”

After Austin Parks hit 1-of-2 free throws to give Niles a 62-59 lead with :30 left, Mattawan called a time-out with :16.2 remaining. When play resumed, Thomas Hoff shot a 3-pointer from the left wing, a couple steps behind the 3-point line with :02 left. The shot never hit the rim and bounced off the backboard. Mattawan still had another chance when Niles hit the ball last before it went out of bounds. With :00.5 remaining, Niles called a time-out. Mattawan’s Zachary Cornish then shot a 3-pointer from the left baseline, which bounced off the rim to give Niles the win.

“Both (shots) were exactly what we wanted,” said Mattawan coach Dan Hoff, whose team fell to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in the SMAC West Division. “The curl (by Hoff) that we missed was a shot that we shoot 100 times a day in practice and the little fade in the corner (by Cornish) is exactly what we wanted. Neither one went in.”

Mattawan went on a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter to tie the game at 49. Niles then went on a 9-3 run to take a 58-52 lead with 2:13 left in the game. The run began with Taylor Campbell scoring on a drive in the paint and was capped by a 3-pointer from Campbell. Campbell finished with 12 points.

“We showed great discipline on that possession,” Pawielski said about Campbell’s 3-pointer late in the game. “We worked the ball and showed patience and got the ball to a shooter who had his feet set. Taylor Campbell has had a wonderful year so it’s nice to see him knock down a shot like that.”

Mattawan rallied again after Campbell’s 3-pointer, pulling within 61-59 after getting a 3-pointer from Darren Jacks with :32 left in the game.

Niles hurt themselves by going only 6-of-11 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

“We, uncharacteristically, missed some free throws,” Pawielski said. “If we would have knocked those downs we could have put the game away a little earlier.”

Behind 14 points from Myles Busby in the first half, Niles led 36-27 at halftime. Busby finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Busby had two of the Vikings’ six 3-pointers in the first half. Austin Parks also made two 3-pointers in the first half and totaled eight of his 12 points over the first 16 minutes.

“Myles is a terrific athlete,” Pawielski said. “He’s been getting better every game.”

Cornish scored 17 points and Darren Jacks added 15 to lead Mattawan, which made five of its eight 3-pointers in the second half.

Pawielski was even more disappointed with how his team played defense inside the 3-point line.

“We just continued to not be able to keep people out of the lane,” Pawielski said. “Mattawan went by us at will tonight. They had a lot of layups and we were very poor on our rotations. I don’t think there was one bright spot on defense for us tonight.”

MATTAWAN 59

Darren Jacks 6 0-1 15, Thomas Hoff 2 0-0 4, Kyle Bitzer 0 0-0 0, Zachary Cornish 7 2-3 17, Zachariah Meyers 5 2-3 14, Dylan Plachta 0 1-2 1, Trevor Sweeney 1 0-0 3, Darek Ditto 2 0-0 5, Josh Sovine 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23 5-9 59

NILES 62

Myles Busby 6 8-10 22, Austin Parks 4 1-2 12, Aaron Pierce 0 0-0 0, Taylor Campbell 4 2-2 12, Matthew McLaughlin 2 1-5 5, Logan Harpenau 2 0-0 5, Anthoney Bice 0 0-0 0, Quintin Irby 1 0-0 2, Alex Brown 2 0-2 4, Mitchell Dehn 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21 12-21 62

Mattawan 9 27 42 59

Niles 19 36 49 62

3-point baskets: Mattawan 8 (Jacks 3, Meyers 2, Cornish, Sweeney, Ditto), Niles 8 (Parks 3, Busby 2, Campbell 2, Harpenau). Total fouls (fouled out): Mattawan 20 (none), Niles 16 (none). Shooting: Mattawan 23-of-54 for 42-percent, Niles 21-of-42 for 50-percent. Rebounding: Mattawan 25 (Jacks 9), Niles 22 (Busby 10). Turnovers: Mattawan 11, Niles 14.

Varsity records

Mattawan 3-3, 1-3 West Division; Niles 6-0, 4-0 West