An inch short, but a huge step forward — Team China's near-miss at the FIBA Asia Cup has served up a timely boost for its tough rebuild, heralding a new dawn at the end of a long period of darkness for Chinese basketball.

Ten years after winning the final of the continental showpiece in Changsha, the Chinese men's team did the country as proud on Sunday as it did in 2015, despite coming up agonizingly short of the title, falling to a 90-89 defeat to Australia in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

To be more precise, China was mere centimeters away from the title.

With the game on the line and 3.9 seconds to go, Team China's inbound pass found leading scorer Hu Mingxuan on the other side of the arc, yet, what would have been the go-ahead 3-point shot hit the rim at the buzzer, drawing a big sigh from the raucous, red-clad crowd at King Abdullah Sports City.

Although it was unable to claim its second title in a decade, and what would be its 17th overall, the players left the tournament with their heads held high, coming home to a winner's welcome from fans, media and pundits alike for putting up a brave fight that bodes well for the team's rebound from a long, barren period at international level.