RIMERSBURG - Kyle Hilliard's second free throw was so bad, it was perfect.

After tying the game with a free throw with seven seconds left in overtime Monday night, Hilliard's second shot barely caught the side of the rim.

He followed the shot, tipped it away from a Moniteau player and right to Union teammate Adam Milanovich, who laid it in for the game-winning points as the Golden Knights boys basketball team posted 68-66 come-from-behind victory.

"I was in the right place at the right time," Milanovich said. "Kyle knew he missed that second shot as soon as he let it go, so he followed it.

"He got a hand on the ball and it came right to me. It was a gift."

Milanovich, a senior forward, led the Golden Knights with 21 points and 11 rebounds. But it was two 3-point buckets and a bizarre six-point play that really bailed out Union, which trailed by nine points with two minutes left in regulation.

A Tyler Grossman layup gave Moniteau (7-13, 5-4) a 55-46 lead. The Warriors led by as many as 12 in the third quarter.

"It looked like we were done," Union coach Karen Davis said. "I thought we were done."

But Cody Mortimer and Bill Burns connected for 3-pointers on consecutive possessions for the Golden Knights (14-4, 7-1), cutting the gap to 57-52. Grossman hit the front end of a one-and-one to give the Warriors a 58-52 lead with 1:24 on the clock.

Hilliard got loose in transition and scored a layup on a fast break with 59 seconds left. Grossman tried to block the shot, missed and slapped the backboard.

The officials awarded Hilliard a two-shot technical foul. He sank them both, then hit another layup on the awarded possession to tie the game and force overtime.

"I thought that was a cheap call," Moniteau coach Randy Armagost said. "I've seen guys try to block shots and hit the backboard lots of times and it's never called.

"If a player is legitimately trying to block a shot and catches the backboard, it shouldn't be called."

Davis was grateful it was.

"When I see my guys do that in scrimmage or practice, I warn them not to do it in a game because they might get called for the technical," she said.

Milanovich's final stickback marked the 12th lead change of the game. Union never led by more than five - and that was when Mortimer scored the first five points of overtime.

Mortimer wound up with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, but had just five points through three quarters.

Moniteau played without 6-foot-3 post player Matt Buczkowski, who stayed home with the flu.

"Josh Warburton filled in tonight and did a great job on Mortimer for three-plus quarters," Armagost said. "Then he just wore out."

Hilliard had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Union.

"We haven't played in big games like this at Union for a long, long time," Milanovich said. "We're at our best when we're running and gunning, when it's helter-skelter out there.

"We had everybody running around at the end of regulation and it worked out for us."

The loss spoiled a stellar effort by Grossman, who led the Warriors with 31 points to go with 10 rebounds and six assists. He fouled out in the final seconds of overtime.

Grossman became the fourth player in Moniteau boys basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. He has 1,013 and will be honored in a ceremony before the East Forest-Moniteau game Wednesday night.

"Grossman's a great player and he was outstanding tonight," Davis said. "He was just coming back (from a hamstring injury) when we played at their place."

Union won a non-league game, 79-54, Dec. 21 at Moniteau.

Matt Schandelmeier had 14 points and 15 rebounds while Zack Thompson had 16 points and nine boards. The Warriors held a 42-31 rebounding edge.

"We played our hearts out and stayed with a very good team on their floor tonight," Armagost said. "This isn't a tough loss to take at all. I'm very encouraged by what I saw tonight."

MONITEAU 66

Tyler Grossman 7-22 15-19 31, Matt Schandelmeier 7-11 0-1 14, Zack Thompson 8-12 0-0 16, Adam Cousins 0-1 0-0 0, Garth Kohlmeyer 0-6 1-2 1, Nick Morrow 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Warburton 2-2 0-0 4, David Rumbaugh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-55 15-21 66

UNION 68

Devin Davis 0-4 0-2 0, Cody Mortimer 6-15 0-1 16, Toby Painter 4-6 0-0 9, Bill Burns 4-7 0-0 9, Adam Milanovich 8-15 4-6 21, Kyle Hilliard 5-14 3-5 13. Totals: 27-61 7-13 68

3-point goals:

Grossman 2; Mortimer 4, Painter, Burns, Milanovich

JV:

Moniteau, 61-59, OT (M-Nick Morrow 20, U-Mike Brothers 18)

Wednesday:

East Forest @ Moniteau, Karns City @ Union

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