Nikos Zisis continues to live up to his billing as the 2005 FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year.

The 1.95-cm guard buried a game-winning three-pointer as Greece defeated Australia 72-69 in the FIBA World Championship in Japan.

The defending EuroBasket champions have now three games in a row and seem to be riding some of the same magic they used to capture the gold medal last year in Belgrade.

		Nikolaos Zisis helped Greece win their third straight game of the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

Greece trailed 69-66 after CJ Bruton made just one of two free throws with 19 seconds remaining.

The Greeks rushed the ball up the floor and Dimitris Diamantidis passed to a wide open Antonis Fotsis who struck from long range on the left to tie the game.

Australia inbounded the ball to David Barlow but as the 22-year-old crossed mid-court, he lost control of the ball and it fell into the hands of Diamantidis.

The Panathinaikos star dribbled, spotted Zisis on the left and passed him the ball.

With three seconds on the clock, Zisis released his shot from just outside the arc and the ball fell through the hoop before the final buzzer.

Greece’s bench emptied onto the floor to celebrate, bringing back memories of their come-from-behind win over France last year in a EuroBasket semi-final in Belgrade, while Australia’s players were stunned.

"The players and coach of the Greek national team believe that we can try until the last second of every game," said Diamantidis.

“All credit to Greece, they stepped up and hit the shots at the end,” said Australia captain Jason Smith.

The memorable moments never seem to end for the young Zisis, who was selected the 2005 FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year this past January mainly due to his performance in EuroBasket 2005.

Earlier this year, Zisis' winning ways continued as he helped Benetton Treviso take the Lega A title in Italy.