THE Boomers’ search for a first Olympic medal goes on after falling to second-ranked Spain in a nail-biting battle for bronze overshadowed by refereeing controversy.

Australia led Sunday’s (Monday AEST) third-place playoff with less than ten seconds on the clock before falling 89-88 in controversial circumstances.

It’s the fourth time the Boomers have been beaten in bronze medal playoff but this loss was by far the hardest to take.

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Tears flowed openly with star guard Matthew Dellavedova completely inconsolable, Australian top scorer Patty Mills (30 points) fighting them back and coach Andrej Lemanis breaking down in the post-match press conference.

Others were both sad and angry with Andrew Bogut leading the criticism against the referees, accusing them of falling for Spain’s diving.

Patty Mills of Australia drives to the basket against Spain. Source: Getty Images

Bogut was fouled out in the third quarter and blasted the soft fouls called on Mills and Aron Baynes in the final quarter that got Spain over the line.

“The call on Patty towards the end comes three seconds after the ball hits the rim, so they (the referees) are obviously thinking about something,” said Bogut, who is undecided on his playing future with the national team.

“It’s disappointing it had to go that way and the play before that, Aron Baynes gets an arm-bar foul in a one-point game with 20 seconds left. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Bogut also blasted the the call that saw him fouled out, accusing Spain’s Ricky Rubio of taking a “Superman dive”.

“The referees bought it, as usual,” Bogut said.

“They’ll look back at the tape and see how obviously bad they were

“When you blatantly dive into someone and fall over, that’s a tough way to play. I don’t blame Spain. If the referees are calling it, you keep doing it.”

Sergio Rodriguez, who hit the winning free throws for Spain, denied his team got the rub of the green.

Sergio Rodriguez of Spain drives to the basket against Matthew Dellavedova of Australia. Source: Getty Images

“There was many fouls the referee didn’t call for us and we said nothing,” he said.

Despite the defeat, Australia’s performance represented a huge improvement on their dismal semi-final loss to Serbia two days ago.

A Boomers team brimming with NBA talent stormed through the group stage as one of the tournament’s form teams and an impressive win over third-ranked Lithuania in the quarter-finals had many pegging them as gold medal contenders.

The out-of-character capitulation to Serbia ended that dream and while Australia will again leave empty handed after fourth-place finishes in Seoul (1988), Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000), Lemanis and Mills felt the 11th-ranked Boomers had proved they can mix it with basketball’s big boys.

“(This team) deserves to be rewarded with a medal and there’s a lot of disappointment and heartache in that dressing room,” said Lemanis, who later fought back tears as he spoke about his uncertain future as Boomers coach.

“But I’m proud to be associated with this group and with the way they represented Australian basketball on the international stage.”

Spanish players celebrate defeating the Boomers in the bronze medal match. Source: Getty Images

Australia’s player-of-the-tournament Mills added: “Coming out of this, it’s no longer about having belief in what we can do, it’s knowing we can do it now.

“This just adds fuel to the fire to be able to come back next time and give it a good, hard crack.”

Australia trailed 23-17 at quarter-time, conceding eight personal fouls but kept in touch thanks to Mills and David Andersen (15 points) off the bench.

Spain led by as many as 12 in the second quarter but the Boomers rallied strongly to cut the margin to just two points at the main break, Anderson leading the way strongly with 13 first-half points.

Australia hit the lead through Dellavedova early in the second half and the sides went blow-for-blow in a thrilling third quarter.

Bogut’s withdrawal didn’t halt Australia’s momentum; with Mills the driving force in attack Brock Motum a huge contributor off the bench.

The lead changed hands with just about every possession in the thrilling final minutes. Baynes put Australia ahead with a lay up with 9.7 seconds on the clock but Rodriguez calmly slotted two free throws to get Spain home for a third straight Olympic medal.

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Re-live the action in the blog below.