HIROSHIMA -- By now you know that Carlos Santana didn't record "Smooth" -- his chart-topping duet with Rob Thomas -- with the Japan National Basketball Team as his inspiration.

But the song's poignant lyrics?

"Give me your heart, make it real or else forget about it" summarized Japan's approach in a must-win game Monday night against Panama at the Hiroshima Prefectural Sports Center.

Team Japan's 78-61 victory came from the heart and from the overwhelming pride that comes from being the host nation in the FIBA World Championship.

Zeljko Pavlicevic's squad looked like a champion boxer Monday night, delivering a series of knockout punches for 12 rounds before finally dropping his opponent to the canvas in the final second.

"With today's victory, we made it possible to keep fighting for the final round," Pavlicevic said after his gritty squad made 16 steals. "I think today's victory was won by players who kept hard working during all this time."

Honestly, did you expect anything different?

A loss would've dropped Japan to 0-3 in Group B play and mathematically made it nearly impossible for the squad to earn one of the coveted four spots to the World Championship's final 16 in Saitama.

After the game, shooting guard Takuya Kawamura blurted out these words to express what was going through his teammates' minds before the game: "We have this kind of mentality: 'If we lose this game, we have no tomorrow.' "

"What we thought was we had to win the game and that's what the head coach talked about."

That scenario is still a daunting task, but now Japan has some momentum to build on as it enters the off-day Tuesday.

Up next: games against New Zealand and Spain on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Both contests commence at 7 p.m.

"Two days later we have another game," said captain Satoru Furuta. "We want to fight like a team again."

Furuta's steady leadership helped stabilize the team. He contributed six points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals and, more importantly, played a game-high 36:48.

Point guard Kei Igarashi played an exceptional game, scoring a game-best 18 points, making four steals and dishing out three assists. Talk about a big-time turnaround. He had five points against Angola and wasn't a big factor in that one-sided loss.

Steady veteran Takehiko Orimo put 13 on the board. Off the bench, Ryota Sakurai added 12 Joji Takeuchi reminded his twin brother, Kosuke, and all of Japan that he isn't the only member of the family who can dunk a basketball. Joji Takeuchi's slam boosted the team's lead to 66-52 in the fourth.

Japan's lead extended to 78-53, the largest margin of the game, after the super-quick Igarashi made a steal and zoomed from end to end for the layup.

In postgame interviews, there was a sense of accomplishment on the faces of players and coaches, but there's still plenty of work to do.

"We won't be satisfied with just today's victory," said Tomoo Amino (eight points, four steals and three rebounds), repeating the captain's message. "We will try to fight in two days again."

Japan displayed true team unity in the opening half, getting balanced scoring from a host of players. The team's first 20 points came from six individuals. By halftime, nine Japanese players had put points on the board.

Japan held a 36-33 edge at the break. Sakurai's eight led his team. Panama's Ruben Douglas was No. 1 with 10 of his 16 in the opening half.

"In the first quarter, we couldn't start very well," Igarashi said, "but in the second quarter it was completely (our time and that continued in the final three periods) . . . I think the team made very good defense.

Panama, which dropped to 0-3 in the tourney, lacked cohesiveness in the second half, forcing passes, rushing shots, missing defensive assignments and being a step or two too slow as it tried to keep up with Japan's speed.

Guillermo Vecchio, the Panamanian coach, said Sakurai was the big difference for Japan.

"He was the X-factor," the coach said. "He pretty much changed the tempo of the game."

Slashing to the basket for layups and sprinting up and down the court, Sakurai provided a much-needed spark for Japan.

The hosts trailed 22-14 after one quarter. The lead quickly vanished. Sakurai scored the quarter's first points on a layup. A nifty reverse layup by Sakurai cut it to 28-25. Japan took a 31-28 lead on Kawamura's 3-pointer from the right wing.

Joji Takeuchi drained a 3 from the baseline just before the first half ended.

"We played very well in the first half," Panama center Jamal Levy, "but we just couldn't execute in the second half.

Japan, 25th in FIBA's world rankings, entered the tournament as the higher ranked team. Panama is No. 34. But Panama's 12-man roster has much more experience on the international level.

Japan's players all competed in the JBL last season. On the other hand, Panama has players who make the big bucks, including the Russian League (Douglas), Spanish League (power forward/center Ruben Garces and point guard Eduardo Cota) and others in South America.

It seemed only appropriated that the Japanese fans provided a memorable crescendo to this game from the stands.

In unison, they chanted go, shi, san, ni, ichi (five, four, three, two, one) as the finals seconds ticked off the clock. One win changed Japan's collective psyche.

Kawamura put it this way: "Players talked about nothing special but (the veterans) told them don't be afraid of anything. Just do it. It's because we know each other and we know basketball and we trust each other."