Curtis McCants has told his baby-faced Split side to stand up for themselves against Brighton Bears tonight.

Bears are on the banks of the Adriatic looking to open their ULEB Cup account at the sixth attempt against a young but talented Split Croatia Insurance side still nursing hopes of a last 16 place.

Split were nine points down at the Triangle before winning 87-86 in overtime and tonight's clash represents Bears' best chance of an away success in Europe.

McCants has been working overtime as Split point guard recently in the absence of injured sidekick Roko Leni Ukic.

Ukic made his comeback in the Adriatic League defeat at Zadar on Saturday and is expected to start tonight, but the American will still be Split's key man.

On Saturday he scored a game-high 24 points and added 12 assists, putting up 13 shots in the second half in a bid to wipe out a double-digit deficit.

It was not enough to head off a 102-86 derby defeat in Zadar's ageing, austere but atmospheric gym perched between the Jasine harbour and the Adriatic.

Defeat followed a ULEB Cup setback in Sopot after the decision to fire coach Predrag Kruscic and replace him with assistant Djuro Nenadic had initially been rewarded with three wins.

Now the action switches 70 miles down the stunning Dalmatian coastline for a European tie Split must win.

McCants admitted: "I'm looking forward to these two games, then I'm going to forget about basketball for ten days.

"I've been training since August 14 and I'm tired mentally. I'll play this game against Brighton, the league game against Reflex Belgrade and then I'll think about the other games after the Christmas break.

"Brighton are a tough team. They are Americans, they are athletic so it is going to be another tough game.

"They are not a soft team. We have problems against teams who play very physical because our team are kids.

"When they play passive against us we win but whenever they are physical against us we struggle."

Split were out-rebounded 32-27 by an excellent Zadar outfit and ran out of attacking ideas once Drago Pasalic, having hit 14 points in 15 minutes, dried up completely.

Nenadic was given the coaching job with tight finances making a high profile appointment from abroad impossible.

While technically a caretaker coach, he is expected to stay in charge for the rest of the season.

Josip Katalinic, who follows Split for national sports newspaper Sportske Novosti, has not noticed great changes to the side.

He said: "They are a young team and they are making the same mistakes all the time.

"Nothing has really changed apart from Nenadic has more confidence in the young guys and might not pull them out of the game if they miss some shots."

Nenadic is saying the right things, insisting: "We respect Brighton, even though they lost five in a row, because no one has really beaten them up."

Bears' visit is unlikely to attract more than 400 fans, with Katalinic admitting: "Whether it is basketball, football or handball, people do not come when results are not good."

McCants, though, insists his men can outwit any tactical traps set by Bears' chief Nick Nurse, who coached the New Yorker at a summer camp in Italy a couple of years ago, and sneak into the last 16.

He said: "We need to win, I think, four from five.

"I know Nick and he will probably double team me like last time but that's good when people double me. I'm not selfish and I can pass the ball."