Just in time; almost too late

I finished at the very last minute but I got the project done and delivered in time

Ho finito all'ultimissimo minuto, ma ho completato e consegnato il progetto in tempo

At that point all hope was lost, but at the eleventh hour the governor granted a stay of execution for the old man on death row

Ormai nessuno ci sperava più, ma il governatore ha concesso in extremis una sospensione temporanea dell'esecuzione all'anziano detenuto nel braccio della morte

More water bombers arrived from the nearby region at the eleventh hour. Just in time to prevent the forest fire from engulfing the town

All'ultimo momento, dalla regione vicina sono arrivati altri aerei antincendio. Appena in tempo per impedire che il fuoco della foresta incendiata si estendesse alla città

On a 12-hour clock (rather than the 24-hour clock), the hours of 12:00 noon and 12:00 midnight seem to hold special significance. Marking the transition from morning to afternoon, and the end of the day, they are often used as deadlines (high noon, the stroke of midnight). To come at "the eleventh hour" implies that it comes in the last hour before the deadline. The choice of "the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" as the time to end World War I was quite apt