The Brighton Centre has never known a basketball night like it.

One more booming Yorick Williams three-pointer, another close range finish from Andrew Alleyne or a couple of stops by the Bears defence, and the shock waves would have been felt an awful lot further afield than a rocking main auditorium on the city's seafront.

The whole of European basketball would have been waking up this morning to a result it could scarcely comprehend.

Lietuvos Rytas, arguably the best team in reputedly the only nation on the planet where basketball is the No. 1 sport, were given the fright of their lives.

Fifteen points up midway through the third quarter, they were left clinging on to a two-point lead when Sullivan Phillips tipped in from a Randy Duck drive with ten seconds to go.

They were only two points to the good when Ramus Siskausas, a star of the Lithuanian team which won this year's European Championships, missed twice from the free throw line.

Duck launched one final effort to get the ball forward but, under pressure from Simas Jasaitis, the ball slipped from his control and those final seconds ticked away all too quickly.

Bears chief Nick Nurse made a brief enquiry as to how time expired so quickly. It was a puzzling finale, yet still a night which will live long in the memory for those who were there.

Defeat, of course, was a crushing disappointment to the boys in dark blue. It was also a slight letdown that more English fans were not present in a crowd of about 2,000.

Those who were there gave the contest the back drop it deserved.

The Lithuanian ex-pats were on their feet throughout and were jubilant when their side's latest signing, Miljan Goljovic, seemingly set up a routine win in the second quarter.

Goljovic was top scorer in the Euroleague four seasons ago. Not a bad player to bring off the bench, especially when he can hit four successive three-pointers, a long two and a fast break lay-up in eight minutes.

Bears bounced back, however, both on and off the court. The noise was deafening when Alleyne tipped in a Kendrick Warren miss to haul it back to 10-5 after Bears had scored the first three points of the night.

When the comeback really started, it was bedlam.

The Lithuanian flag had been paraded in front of the banks of seating earlier. Now home fans took large blue and white flags from the cheerleaders and ran along the sideline, sending fans of both teams into a frenzy.

From 15 down when Goljovic scored his only second-half points, Bears made their move.

Has Alleyne ever played better in his long career? This was certainly his finest night for the Bears as he battled inside with Dickey Simpkins and the NBA-bound Robertas Javtokas.

Alleyne even had a three-pointer, as did Duck, but it was Williams' buzzer-beating three, from tight to the right sideline and double-teamed as the third quarter ended, which really sparked belief for the hosts.

Siskausas took a super step and shot a falling away jumper to open the final period but Bears claimed ten of the next 12 points and the upset was on.

They never got closer than two points, which was maddening in the short term. In the long term though, who knows what benefits Bears can draw from the night basketball fervour hit the Sussex coast.