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This season will be the 11^th in the history of Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius basketball club. Since the foundation of the club in 1997 until today Lietuvos Rytas has celebrated a number of remarkable victories.

Led by Sarunas Jasikevicius, Arvydas Macijauskas, Ramunas Siskauskas, Robertas Javtokas and Simas Jasaitis Lietuvos Rytas has produced some of the most recognizable athletes of European basketball.

Please join us as we take a look back at a few of the more memorable moments in Lietuvos Rytas history. The Vilnius team returned to the Euroleague this season again after a one year break. Lietuvos Rytas earned a spot in the men’s elite tournament after a successful ULEB Cup season where they reached the final. This was the second successful season in ULEB Cup competition. In 2005 Lietuvos Rytas won the ULEB cup in a brilliant final game against Greece’s Makedonikos, 78:74. In 2005 Lietuvos Rytas made its debut in the Euroleague and silenced all the sceptics by advancing to the “TOP 16” of the tournament.

One of the most memorable moments in the history of Lietuvos Rytas was the climax of the 2001-2002 season. Lietuvos Rytas triumphed in the Northern European Basketball League (NEBL) when they beat the strongest Russian club Ural Great Perm. After this victory Lietuvos Rytas was primed for a long run of championship calibre basketball and left no chance for Zalgiris Kaunas in the finals of the LKL. Of course this wasn’t the first title in the LKL for Lietuvos Rytas.

In the franchise’s third year of existence in 2000 Lietuvos Rytas broke through and won their first LKL Championship in four games over Zalgiris Kaunas which had been undefeated for 7 years.

The same year Lietuvos Rytas challenged the basketball giants from Bologna, Kinder. In the semi-final of the Saporta cup Lietuvos Rytas beat the Italian team 70:60. However, Kinder took revenge on their home court, 83:71 and slipped into the final by only a two point margin.

Lietuvos Rytas was very close to winning the NEBL that year as well but lost in the final to CSKA Moscow.

The 2000-2001 season started slowly for Lietuvos Rytas which made its debut in the Suproleague. The team then engineered a great turnaround and catapulted into the playoffs where they were defeated by Efes Pilsen Istanbul.

The NEBL competition of 2001 ended with a third place victory.

The 2002-2003 season proved to be one of many ups and downs for the Lietuvos Rytas players as they spent most of the year battling for the FIBA Champions cup. Vilnius’s team advanced all the way to the finals of the Conference North but dropped the last game to Unics Kazan. The eternal battle in the LKL ended in the six game series defeat by Zalgiris Kaunas.

The 2003-2004 season was not the one Lietuvos Rytas had hoped for as they again took 2^nd place in the LKL. The debut in the ULEB cup ended in disappointment as Lietuvos Rytas lost in the quarterfinals to Hapoel Jerusalem.

This frustration helped the next year to achieve the biggest victory in the club’s history of international competition when they captured the ULEB cup. In 2006 the Vilnius team swept their deadly rivals Zalgiris Kaunas in the finals of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) as well as took away Zalgiris’ Baltic Basketball League (BBL) champions crown in the final four tournament. Lietuvos Rytas repeated success while winning BBL champions title in 2007 - the season which was a significant milestone for the team as the 10^th anniversary season got underway.

This year Lietuvos Rytas is ready for another impressive season and will look to continue their history-making legacy.

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