The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 plus 7 letter word SQUEAKED THROUGH
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
S
Q
U
E
A
K
E
D
T
H
R
O
U
G
H
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "just made it" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case just made it = squeaked through.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.