VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - Let's be frank.

Zalgiris Kaunas, judging on the season of frustration they had endured, had no business being on the same court as CSKA Moscow in the Euroleague Top 16 on Thursday.

In the world of haves and have nots, the Russian giants have it all.

They've got the riches.

They have the big name coach, Ettore Messina, and a squad to envy.

In the CSKA line-up are players like Kyle Hines, Milos Teodosic, Sonny Weems, Viktor Khryapa and Nenad Krstic.

They have a Russia international sharpshooter that comes off the bench in Vitaly Fridzon who makes three-pointers in his sleep, and a back-up point guard in Aaron Jackson who is cool, calm and collected.

CSKA are so deep, so talented that one of their big signings, Jeremy Pargo, didn't step onto the floor to play Zalgiris.

They went into the game with seven wins in eight Top 16 games while Zalgiris were the exact opposite at 1-7.

If Zalgiris don't have the money, the famous coach, the star-studded roster or the impressive record, on Thursday they had plenty of something else.

They had an abundance of heart and it almost netted them a famous win.

American guard Justin Dentmon was fearless and scored 28 points.

He didn't back down against Teodosic, giving him a finger wag when the Serbia international got a little too close to Dentmon during a dead ball situation early on.

The action turned the intensity up a notch in the crowd, and on the court.

Dentmon, the basketball gods decided, would have a painful end to the game.

He had his potential game-winning three-ball blocked by Jackson at the buzzer, and CSKA escaped with an 88-86 victory.

David threw a scare into Goliath, but Goliath won.

There are no moral victories in sport.

Teams win, or teams lose.

Dentmon walked off the court in agony and CSKA celebrated their eighth win in nine Top 16 games.

Teams that lose can have encouraging performances, though, and this most certainly was one for the Lithuanians.

Martynas Pocius, like Dentmon, took up the challenge on both ends of the floor.

Offensively, he drilled three-pointers and scored on drives to the bucket.

Pocius had the play of the game, dribbling in from the right before soaring through the air and banking in a left-handed reverse lay-up.

The Lithuania international, who has been slowed by injuries the past two seasons, finished with 20 points and six boards.

With Paulius Jankunas hurt and unavailable, Zalgiris often had a small line-up on the floor and Pocius had to guard bigger men in the low post.

They lost, but Zalgiris stood up to be counted.

"This time we were really fighting till the end," Pocius said.

"It is truly commendable.

"And even knowing what kind of lineup we played - practically all the time with four small players."

Often times this season, the Lithuanian club's failure to compete for 40 minutes has contributed to uncustomary low noise levels in the Zalgiris Arena.

On Thursday, the players fed off the crowd, and the crowd fed off the team.

The gym rocked.

Zalgiris hit CSKA in the gut with one hard punch after another and made them work for their victory.

There was a patriotic fervor in the crowd with fans chanting "LIETUVOS, LIETUVOS" for much of the contest.

"The fan support was just fantastic, for sure we missed that atmosphere, so it is very unfortunate that the fans didn't get a win," Pocius said.

Zalgiris can build on this effort.

"This game was generally some sort of step forward in terms of quality," Pocius said.

"I hope that the next game will be even better."

It was 1-7 against 7-1.

I love watching games like this.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.