Australia came within a single shot of upsetting the world number one Argentina, narrowly losing 74-72 in their second preliminary round match at the World Championships on Monday morning.
Gold Coast Blaze guard Adam Gibson had a three-point attempt at the buzzer that narrowly missed to allow the Argentina to avoid an upset at the hands of the 11th-ranked Boomers.
A night after opening the world titles with a hard-fought 76-75 win over basketball minnows Jordan, the Boomers came heartbreakingly close to beating the team who were the 2006 Olympic champions and the Beijing bronze medallists.
Joe Ingles led Australia with 22 points and added four rebounds and three assists. Patrick Mills added 21 points and five assists, while Matt Nielsen had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
For Argentina, NBA star Luis Scola had a game-high 31 points and Leonardo Gutierrez contributed 17 points.
Australia defeated Argentina in a warm-up series 3-0 in the lead-up to the world titles but that was a side without NBA stars Scola and Carlos Delfino.
The Boomers showed that they were still determined to take it to the Argentineans early and took a 25-20 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The second period was a low-scoring affair but by half-time the Boomers had extended their edge slightly to six points, 39-33.
Argentina made minor inroads into the Australian buffer in the third, but at the final change Australia still led, 56-52, and an upset seemed quite possible.
Ingles opened the final period in style, making a superb reverse dribble on the baseline to confound his defender and score as well as drawing the foul and making the subsequent and-one to improve the Australian lead to 59-52.
Argentina then reeled off a stunning 13-0 run that was only stopped by a Nielsen two with 3:37 left in the game. Nielsen then made a spinning jump hook to reduce the Argentinean lead to two, 65-63.
On their next possession Mills drove to the hoop on the break and drew a foul, subsequently making both free throws to tie the game up at 65-65 with 2:10 to play.
Scola made one of two free throws on the other end to regain the lead for Argentina, 66-65, but it was Nielsen again getting to the line and making one of two to tie it up again, 66-66.
After an Australian miss, Scola made another tough two as the South Americans looked to be drawing away, but Mills responded with a three to tie the game up again at 69-69.
Pablo Prigioni made a three of his own for Argentina however to restore his team's lead. Mills got fouled at the other end, and went to the line, missing the first but making the second to keep it a two-point game, 72-70.
Scola was fouled with 8.8 seconds remaining, and made both to give Argentina a 74-70 edge. Mills then missed a three but Ingles rebounded and made an acrobatic mid-air layup to draw Australia within two with 3.7 seconds left, forcing an Argentina time-out. Good defensive pressure on the inbounds saw the South Americans throw the ball out of court and give Australia the final possession with 3.5 seconds left.
After a time-out the Australians found Gibson in the corner for an open look at the basket, but his attempt bounced off the ring