SUVA (FIBA Oceania U19 Qualification for Men/FIBA U19 World Championship) - Australia have a new basketball hero as Dejan Vasiljevic nailed a three-pointer at the final buzzer to give the Emus an 84-81 victory over New Zealand in the Final of the FIBA Oceania U19 Qualification for Men and secure the final spot at the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Vasiljevic saved what would have been a huge national disappointment for Australia by not only hitting the game-winner but also nailing an important three-pointer with a minute left in the game. 

One of six Australians who captured second place at the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship this past summer, the 1.87m guard ended up scoring 15 points for Australia, who have never failed to beat New Zealand in FIBA Oceania qualifiers.

A format change meant that FIBA Oceania had a 10-nation tournament with the winner - and U19 Worlds qualifier - decided in a one-off Final, as opposed to the best-of-three showdowns between the two powers in the past. 

Both Australia and New Zealand breezed through the tournament and played out a highly-contested and entertaining Final.

Tanner Krebs led Australia with 18 points while Abiola Akintola had 13 points and Kyle Clark scored 11. Captain Tom Wilson had seven points, six rebounds and four assists but also made just 3-of-12 shots and turned the ball over six times. 

The decisive stat was three-point shooting as Australia made 12 of 24 attempts for 50 percent while New Zealand hit just 3 of 16 for 19 percent.

The Junior Tall Blacks were led by their powerful inside combination of Sam Timmins, who collected 20 points, 13 rebounds, six blocks and four assists; and Tai Wynyard, who added 21 points and seven rebounds - 19 of his points coming in the second half. Jayden Bezzant chipped in 12 points in the loss.

New Zealand jumped ahead 15-8 and the lead was 19-15 when Iyazah Mauriohooho Le'Afa missed two shots and committed two turnovers while Australia finished the final 3:31 minutes of the first quarter on a 16-2 run, including Krebs' fadeaway three-pointer from the corner at the final buzzer for a 31-21 lead.

New Zealand started the second quarter with a 12-3 run to get within 34-33 but still trailed 40-35 at halftime. 

The 16-year-old Wynyard helped New Zealand knot the game at 44-44. But Australia forced four New Zealand turnovers to open a 53-44 lead and back-to-back Krebs three-pointers made it 59-49 for Australia, who led 61-56 after three quarters.

Down by six, New Zealand reeled off nine straight points to pull ahead 71-68 inside four minutes to play. Wilson converted a lay-up to tie the game at 77-77 before Vasiljevic nailed a three-pointer from the left side for an 80-77 lead with a minute remaining. 

Down 81-78 with 14 seconds left, Bezzant made the first of two free-throws, but missed the second. Le'Afa came up with the ball and was fouled and made two foul shots with 13 seconds to tie the game, setting the stage for Vasiljevic's heroics. 

Australia's win meant New Zealand have still never qualified for the U19 Worlds, having only played at the event when they hosted it in 2009. 

Australia will have a drastically different team next summer as many of their top players eligible including Ben Simmons, Jonah Bolden, Isaac Humphries and Thon Maker did not play in Fiji. And the Emus will be considered a podium contender, having won the title in 2003 and finished second in 2005. 

The Australians complete the 16-nation field for the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship, which will be played from 27 June-5 July in Greece's largest island of Crete. 

One of the top title contenders will be reigning champions and five-time winners USA. 

Also qualifying with them from FIBA Americas is Canada, two-time third place finishers Argentina and Dominican Republic, making their return to the tournament for the first time since 1983. 

Besides hosts Greece, who won the event in 1995, Europe is also represented by U18 champions Turkey, appearing in the tournament for the first time since 2007; Serbia, who came in second in 2011 and 2013; two-time third place finishers Croatia; 1999 champions Spain; and Italy, who return for the first time since 1995. 

FIBA Asia's three representatives are China, Iran and Korea, while Egypt and Tunisia will be playing for FIBA Africa.

The 2015 U19 World Championship will not have a team making their first-ever appearing. The 2013 edition had three newcomers in hosts Czech Republic, Ivory Coast and Senegal. 

FIBA