Nick Nurse always knew Brighton Bears' European adventure would be tough.

He never imagined, however, that they would end up shooting themselves so spectacularly in the foot in their own gym.

Sixteen missed three-pointers, nine missed free throws, an 18-4 deficit inside seven minutes and no field goals in a key seven-minute fourth-quarter spell.

You might get away with stats like that in the British League but not against a big money Polish side targeting top spot in ULEB Cup Group F.

Even when the visitors are also having trouble with the notoriously tight rims at the Triangle.

The crowd, noisy and enthusiastic if slightly smaller than expected, were on their feet as the hosts clawed back from 17 points down to trail by one when Kendrick Warren dunked over Tomas Masiulis with 7mins 28secs to go.

Bears then went horribly cold, however, failing to register another field goal until Sullivan Phillips' trademark tip-in with 15 seconds remaining.

By that time, it was all over, with a three-pointer from Travis Conlan, once signed by Nurse for Manchester Giants, helping see off the Bears.

Conlan laughed: "Nick was joking with me about it, saying I should have shot from three or four feet further back like I did in my Manchester days."

Nurse, though, was not laughing as he saw his side slip to a fourth defeat in as many European starts.

The contest may have been closer than the scoreline suggests, but a loss is a loss and Bears now face trips to France and Croatia as they continue to chase a treasured first win.

Nurse said: "That's the way it seems to be going for us in Europe. We seem to have to spot teams ten or 12 points. In this case it was more than that before we realised we could play with these guys.

"I thought their defence was outstanding early in the game. I told the guys it was going to be physical and hard to get shots. As the game wore on I thought we got good shots, even late on, but we didn't make them.

"You've got two things. You've got an awful start and you've got two-for-18 from the three point line in our own gym and that's going to add up to a loss."

So is a tally of three baskets from a first quarter during which the ball just would not drop.

Tomas Pacesas and Sopot's top ULEB Cup scorer Goran Jagodnik both hit threes and Gintaras Einikis twice rejected efforts from Warren.

Randy Duck's spin move ended a 13-0 Sopot run but it was still a horrendous quarter for Bears offensively and ended with a 20-6 scoreline. When Dragan Markovik, a Yugoslav international noted for his three-point shooting, connected from outside, Sopot had a 27-10 lead still inside the first 13 minutes.

Warren replied in kind but it was an explosive 11-0 run, along with Einikis's third foul, which really roused the crowd.

Andrew Alleyne hit six straight points and Yorick Williams finished a fast break as Bears brought arrears to 35-27 at the half.

Bears shaded the third period 18-13 while Einikis opened the fourth period with a long two but Duck struck twice from the line, then Warren attacked down the baseline and pulled it back to 50-49.

Jagodnik replied with an athletic put-back and the Sopot big men did their job, coming up with key offensive rebounds as their side expertly ran down the clock.

That makes it three successive wins for Sopot, who are flying. So, in a more literal sense, are Bears with trips to Scottish Rocks, Cholet and Split to come.

Now how about a flying start to give themselves a real chance?