Yuta Tabuse scored his only basket of the game at the final buzzer Saturday to give Japan an 82-81 victory over South Korea in the final for 11th place at the under-21 men's basketball World Championship tournament.
Tabuse's shot as time ran out at Saitama Super Arena kept the host nation out of last place in the 12-team tourney and capped a frenzied comeback effort by Japan which was down by as many as 19 points in the third quarter.
Kensuke Sato led the Japanese team with 21 points while Kim Dong Woo scored 22 for South Korea.
Later Saturday, the Dominican Republic meets Croatia and Argentina takes on the unbeaten United States in the tournament's semifinals.
In the game for ninth place, Shaban Abdel-Wahab scored 23 points and pulled down 22 rebounds and Ahmed Abdel-Bari added 23 points of his own as Egypt took a 16-point lead in the first quarter and cruised past Qatar 91-76.
In the consolation group for fifth to eighth place, Milan Klepo dumped in 21 points as Slovenia overcome a nine-point deficit at halftime to defeat Australia 99-89.
Andrew Rice led all scorers with 22 points for Australia, which was outscored by Slovenia in the third quarter 31-17.
Guard Carlos Cabezas scored 30 points for Spain, which also had to come from behind, to snare a 76-68 win from Israel.