Yorick Williams has never known an occasion like it in Greece.

The England guard, who includes Aris of Thessalonika among his former clubs, had warned his Brighton Bears colleagues to expect a hostile atmosphere when they tackled Ionikos in Athens on Tuesday.

Instead, when he led his team out as, numerically, the first name on the teamsheet, it was with an ironic wave to the empty stands and a cheeky grin across his face.

Bears' potentially costly 87-76 defeat in their first ULEB Cup away game was watched by less than 100 people.

This in a basketball-mad nation where four league games are screened live every weekend, viewers also enjoy a Match Of The Day type highlights show and newspapers give between 8-12 pages to the sport every day.

For once in Greece, the overseas visitors did not have a crowd to silence. Yet they still lost a seven-point lead to be left with a huge task if they are to claim third spot in their group and possibly progress to the last 16.

Williams was arguably Bears' best player on the night, coming up with some big plays when his side needed a spark.

He hit four of seven three-pointers, totalled 17 points and added a highlight-reel rejection of a seemingly routine lay-up by Antonis Asimakopoulos.

Yet, when one of his three-point misses rimmed out in the last minute, even he knew the game was up.

Williams, one of three relatively new faces in the Bears team, admitted: "Players with European experience could say that if you have a five-point lead at the half you cannot afford a team to come back out and wipe that out straight away.

"The coach was saying the same thing at half-time.

"I could still see us coming back into it. Even with two minutes to go the game was still alive.

"We kept it relatively close, though, and when they come to our place I think it will be a different story."

The crowd should be bigger too. In fact, Bears chief Nick Nurse was asked what sort of support his side got when he was quizzed by Greek reporters.

His answer of 1,200 or more for the ULEB Cup opener with Split surprised a few people.

Do not get the wrong idea about the Greeks and basketball. They still love the game.

It is just that, in the peaceful residential suburb of Nea Filadelfia, Ionikos are a new team on the scene and are overshadowed by the traditional big three of Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and AEK.

This is a city with three teams who regularly reach the latter stages of the Euroleague and can aspire to lift the biggest club prize outside the NBA.

Take the scenes at Olympiacos on Sunday, for instance. They may have had a routine win against one of the league's lower lights but their young fans were on their feet singing and chanting for the full 40 minutes, as well as throughout half-time and for a few minutes before and after the game.

The media entourage at Ionikos was also significant. There was live television coverage, a packed press room and a line of photographers dutifully lined up behind the basket being defended by Bears, ready to pass on news of the anticipated Greek win to fans at home.

Trouble is though, armchair fans do not create much of an atmosphere, as Williams and his colleagues found out.

The Bears star added: "I was very surprised. I'm used to playing in Greece with the gym packed out.

"Not that I minded it. It's better than having cans and coins thrown at you."

Bears can end one of the longest losing sequences in the league when they go to Ponds Forge on Saturday.

Nick Nurse's men will be looking to score their first away win over Sheffield Sharks in 18 attempts as they clash in the BBL's match of the day.

That last success dates back to December 1995, when Worthing Bears won 72-69 on the road.

Seventeen straight defeats have followed since then, the latest of them earlier this season in the BBL Cup.

The only respite from that sorry run came at Sheffield a year ago when Bears beat London Towers in a National Cup semi-final played on neutral territory.

Sheffield have won their last 24 home league matches, dating back to the last game of the 2001/2002 season, when Newcastle grabbed a 100-97 verdict in Yorkshire.

No shortage of incentive then for Nick Nurse's men to end their week of trekking west, then east, with a landmark result in the north.