Michigan sophomore Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a team-high 21 points and his late defensive play clinched Team USA's 78-77 win over Australia and a fifth-place finish at the FIBA U19 World Championships.

Tim Hardaway Jr.

Courtesy USA Basketball

Jeremy Lamb (UConn) tipped in his own missed shot to give Team USA a 78-77 lead with 29 seconds remaining.

Coming out of a timeout with 8.2 seconds left, Hardaway was assigned to defend Australia's leading scorer, Hugh Greenwood. The Michigan sophomore-to-be forced Greenwood into a missed desperation 3-point shot at the buzzer.

“Coach (Paul) Hewitt and the coaching staff had total confidence in me to stay on their best scorers throughout this whole tournament, so I knew I was going to have to get one defensive stop and it was a do or die,” Hardaway told USA Basketball.

“(Greenwood) had 26 points and that’s their main guy so it’s either do die. I just made sure I stayed in front of him, contained him. They had four seconds left so I knew if I stayed in front of him for three more seconds he would have to put up a shot over me, so I just stayed in front of him and just contested the shot.”

Hardaway had his best offensive performance of the nine-game tournament, scoring 21 points on 8 of 16 shooting, including 3 of 7 from 3-point range. He also had five rebounds and two assists.

Lithuania and Serbia are playing for the World Championship title.