BC Rytas-2 is a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

club based in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. The team competes in the National Basketball League (NKL), the second division of Lithuanian basketball. Founded in 2003, it is the reserve team of Rytas Vilnius.

History

The Perlas club was founded in 2003. Over the decade, the team had many variations of its name, but it always had the word "Perlas" (Pearl) in it except during the 2012–2013 season, when it was called "Vilnius-MRU". It developed young prospects and became a springboard to a professional career for former Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius players, guard Dovydas Redikas and

BC Žalgiris Basketball Club Žalgiris () commonly known as BC Žalgiris, is a professional basketball club based in Kaunas, Lithuania. They compete domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketball League (''Lietuvos krepšinio lyga'') and ...

former player

Mindaugas Kuzminskas Mindaugas Kuzminskas (born 19 October 1989) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player and the captain (sports), vice-captain for AEK B.C., AEK Athens of the Greek Basketball League (GBL). He also formerly represented the Lithuania men's nat ...

. Undoubtedly, Perlas’ best-known alumni is Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius,

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

and

Lithuania men's national basketball team The Lithuania men's national basketball team () represents Lithuania in international basketball competitions. They are controlled by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Lithuania. Despite Lithuania's small ...

center

Jonas Valančiūnas Jonas Valančiūnas ( ; ; born 6 May 1992) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 NBA ...

. "Perlas-MRU" qualified for the second-tier Lithuanian basketball league (NKL) playoffs for the first time in the 2006–2007 season. An ambitious and young team, they went on a commercial basis to play in the LKL in 2009. During two seasons in the league, "Perlas-MRU" finished the regular season in 8th and 7th place, respectively. On 14 July 2011, the club merged with NKL champions „Pieno Žvaigždės“, with many players signing with

BC Pieno žvaigždės BC Pieno žvaigždės () was a professional basketball club from Pasvalys, Lithuania. Founded in 1999, the team competed in the top-tier Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) for 13 seasons from 2011 to 2024. The club name c ...

as a result. In the 2011–2012 season after returning to the NKL, "Perlas-MRU" did not qualify for the playoffs. In the 2012–2013 season, the results for the team were much better. In the regular season, Vilnius team was ranked 12th (14/20), but in the Round of 16 it eliminated fifth-ranked Sūduva-Mantinga (2–1). In the quarterfinals, "Perlas-MRU" met with Jonavos "Triobet" but was eliminated after three intense matches. In the 2013–2014 season, Perlas once again qualified for the NKL playoffs. In the round of 16, Mindaugas Sakalauskas players crushed Klaipedos Nafta-Universitetas (3–0), but in quarterfinals, they were forced to concede to Delikatesas Joniškis (3–2).

Players

Current roster

Notable players

* Eimantas Bendžius *

Arvydas Šikšnius Arvydas Šikšnius (born 10 October 1987) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Professional career Šikšnius won the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) All-Star Game's Slam Dunk Contest The NBA Slam Dunk Contest (official ...

Deividas Sirvydis Deividas Sirvydis (born 10 June 2000) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague. Sirvydis was selected 37th overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2019 NBA dr ...

* Evaldas Kairys * Dovis Bičkauskis * Margiris Normantas *

Marek Blaževič Marek Blaževič (born 1 September 2001) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Tofaş of Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). Standing at , he plays the center position. Professional career Blaževič made his professional debut with BC Per ...

Gytis Radzevičius Gytis Radzevičius (born 17 July 1995) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Rytas Vilnius of the Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region ...

* Dominykas Domarkas *

Edvinas Šeškus Edvinas Šeškus (born 10 March 1995) is a Lithuanian basketball player who recently played for CBet Jonava of the Lithuanian Basketball League. He mainly plays the shooting guard position. He is tall and weighs . Career A 13-year-old Šešk ...

* Saulius Kulvietis *

Paulius Dambrauskas Paulius Dambrauskas (born 16 December 1991) is a Lithuanian basketball player who last played for Astoria Bydgoszcz of the Polish Basketball League. Professional career In 2010, Dambrauskas signed a long-term contract with BC Lietuvos Rytas. I ...

* Vytautas Šarakauskas * Vilmantas Dilys *

Augustas Marčiulionis Augustas Marčiulionis (born 21 March 2002) is a Lithuanian basketball player for NCAA Division I Saint Mary's College after having played for Rytas Vilnius of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). Standing , he plays the point guard positi ...

* Einaras Tubutis *

Ąžuolas Tubelis Ąžuolas Tubelis (born 22 March 2002) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Rytas Vilnius of the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). He played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats men's basketball, A ...

* Karolis Giedraitis

History

References

External links

*
BC Perlas
at NKL.lt {{DEFAULTSORT:Bc Perlas Basketball teams established in 2003 Basketball in Vilnius Perlas 2003 establishments in Lithuania