O’FALLON – A high degree of difficulty required to win Southwestern Conference boys basketball games on the road is widely accepted as a given.

Seems a valid premise only when it does not include the Alton Redbirds on a school bus traveling a road that leads to Panther Dome.

Junior Kevin Caldwell Jr.’s full-court drive and basket with eight seconds left lifted the Redbirds to a 55-54 victory over the O’Fallon Panthers on Friday night.

The victory was sixth in a row for the Redbirds in O’Fallon, where Alton has not lost since Jan. 27, 2011. It was also the Redbirds’ ninth consecutive win overall the Panthers.

Alton improves to 4-1 and 2-0 in the SWC. O’Fallon, which had won four in a row after losing its season opener to Belleville Althoff, is 4-2 and 1-1 in the league.

The Redbirds were without senior Maurice Edwards, a first team All-SWC pick last season who was averaging 16.5 points in Alton’s first four games. Alton coach Eric Smith declined to define the status of Edwards, who was with the team on the bench.

“This was a big one,” Caldwell said. “We just wanted to come out, play together with our best player not being here. It’s a good team win.”

Caldwell’s two free throws with 29 seconds remaining gave the Redbirds a 53-52 lead. But the Panthers’ Daron Thomas scored off a drive through the lane to put Alton down 54-53 with 17 seconds left.

Caldwell did not hesitate, making a fast dash and basket off the glass for the game winner for the last of his 11 points.

“I was just wanting to make the best play,” Caldwell said. “Getting to the basket, I had been doing it a lot tonight. I just wanted to finish and help my team win.”

His help did not end there. After an O’Fallon timeout with 5.2 seconds left, Caldwell deflected the inbounds pass the Panthers would recover but not fast enough to get off a last-second shot.

“Little things,” Caldwell said. “Coach talks to us about plays to win games. That play took a couple seconds and made it much more difficult for them to get up the court.”

Smith said, “We had a kid make a play – two plays – at the end. We survived.”

Doing it without Edwards was no easy task. The Redbirds overcame 21 turnovers in the game and watched an eight-point lead dwindle away in the fourth quarter. Alex Orr scored 13 points and Jalen Hodge had 12 for O’Fallon, which finished with 11 turnovers.

“Our kids will compete,” Smith said. “We go through little lulls, we make some mistakes, but the thing we’ve always done is compete. I don’t think there are too many people who will tell you we don’t play our butts off.”

Dereaun Clay replaced Edwards in the starting lineup and led the Redbirds with 13 points. Alton also got a strong game off the bench from Darrell Smith, who knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and finished with seven points.

Donovan Clay, wearng Edwards’ No. 25, also hit a trey during a 12-2 Redbirds run that closed the first half with Alton up 28-22. Terrance Walker scored eight points and Ty’ohn Trimble chipped in seven for Alton.

“We had some guys step up,” Smith said. “In the first half, everybody that came in the basketball game gave us a positive contribution. If those kids don’t step in like that, we’re in world of hurt.”

Greg Shashack may be reached at 618-798-1486 or on Twitter @gregshashack