BC Pieno žvaigždės

Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys
Nickname Pienininkai (Milkmen)
Leagues Lithuanian Basketball League,
Baltic Basketball League,
FIBA Europe Cup
Founded 2003
Arena Pieno žvaigždės Arena
Arena Capacity 1,200
Location Pasvalys, Lithuania
Team colors Navy, Yellow, White
              
President Eugenijus Budreika
Head coach Mantas Šernius
Championships 1 LKAL
1 NKL
Website www.bcpienozvaigzdes.lt
Uniforms
Home
Away

BC Pieno žvaigždės (English: Milk stars) is a professional basketball club from Pasvalys, Lithuania which currently plays in the LKL league. The club name comes from the main sponsor Pieno žvaigždės.

History

In 2003, the club debuted in the LKAL league and took fourth place (regular season: 19-15). The 2003–2004 LKAL season was more successful for Pieno žvaigždės as they won the regular season (regular season: 39-13). During the 2006–2007 season, Pieno žvaigždės played in the new second Lithuania basketball league, NKL, and took fifth place (regular season: 22-22). In their second NKL season, BC Pieno žvaigždės took only eight place (regular season: 17-15). The 2008–2009 season was more successful and Pieno žvaigždės took sixth place (regular season: 23-13). The 2009–2010 NKL season was one of the most successful in the club history as BC Pieno žvaigždės took third place in NKL (regular season: 21-9).

Derrick Caracter, one of the team's leaders in the 2013–14 season.
Since 2011 Pieno žvaigždės plays in the newly built arena.

However this was not the end, as BC Pieno žvaigždės ended their 2010–2011 NKL regular season with 41:1 win/lose ratio (lost to Pakruojo Meresta by 1 point). On 16/17 April 2011, BC Pieno žvaigždės participated in NKL final four and became NKL champions.[1] Also they got their chance to enter Lithuania super basketball league LKL, because of that, Pieno žvaigždės played three transition matches against Naglis (loser goes to NKL and the winner is automatically transferred to Lithuania super basketball league LKL). On 26 April 2011, Pieno žvaigždės lost their first transition match against Naglis in Palanga.[2] On 29 April 2011 however, Pieno žvaigždės won the second game of the transition series in Pasvalys.[3] The perfect BC „Pieno žvaigždės“ season finished very unsuccessfully as they lost the third transition series game against Naglis by only one point with result 68:69.[4] Because of that, Pieno žvaigždės had to stay in NKL.

On 14 July 2011, Pieno žvaigždės merged with LKL participant Perlas, so they participated in premier Lithuania basketball league LKL. The main team coach was former Perlas coach Roberts Štelmahers.[5] Pieno Žvaigždės debuted in the LKL league on 7 October 2011 against Techasas, they won the match with result 84:56.[6]

In 2011–2012 season Pieno žvaigždės participated in LKF Cup tournament. They eliminated Šiauliai in last round of playoffs and advanced to final four, which took place in Kaunas.[7] The semi-final was against Rūdupis, which, after very tight game Pieno žvaigždės won with result 68:67.[8]

However, the team was no match for Žalgiris Kaunas, losing 62:99. Over the next two seasons, the team played solidly in both the LKL and BBL comptetitions, reaching the quarterfinals each time, also reaching the LKF Cup finals in 2013, though losing to BC Prienai.

In the 2014–15 LKL season, Pieno žvaigždės were just one step away from defeating Juventus in the quarter-finals, losing the fifth series game by 8 points.[9] Juventus later played in the LKL bronze final and surprisingly defeated Euroleague participant BC Neptūnas there.[10]

On July 29, 2015, the club was invited to join the 2015–16 FIBA Europe Cup tournament, which is the alternative version of the 2nd tier European tournament ULEB Eurocup, organized by FIBA.[11] University of Florida standout Dennis Mavin and Khimik star Ramone Moore strengthened the team roster in the summer of 2015.[12][13] The team advanced into the second stage of the FIBA Europe Cup by clinching the second place in the group and surprisingly leaving the last season's Polish champions and Euroleague participants Turów Zgorzelec shocked.[14]

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

BC Pieno žvaigždės roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
PG 1 United States Low, Derrick 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 29 – (1986-03-21)21 March 1986
G/F 10 Lithuania Babrauskas, Steponas 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 31 – (1984-06-20)20 June 1984
SF 11 Lithuania Petrikonis, Paulius 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 103 kg (227 lb) 17 – (1998-03-11)11 March 1998
PF 12 Lithuania Skučas, Žygimantas 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 103 kg (227 lb) 23 – (1992-03-18)18 March 1992
SF 13 Lithuania Olisevičius, Osvaldas 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 23 – (1993-01-10)10 January 1993
C 18 Ukraine Agafonov, Andriy 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 109 kg (240 lb) 29 – (1986-05-07)7 May 1986
SG 20 Lithuania Redikas, Dovydas 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 23 – (1992-12-11)11 December 1992
PF 21 Lithuania Staniulis, Giedrius 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 24 – (1991-04-16)16 April 1991
SG 23 United States Moore, Ramone 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 26 – (1989-03-27)27 March 1989
PG 77 Lithuania Gintvainis, Jokūbas 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 21 – (1994-07-25)25 July 1994
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Lithuania Tomas Rinkevičius

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: November 21, 2015

Depth Chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Andriy Agafonov Giedrius Staniulis
PF Žygimantas Skučas Lazar Radosavljevic
SF Steponas Babrauskas Osvaldas Olisevičius Justas Tamulis
SG Ramone Moore Dovydas Redikas
PG Derrick Low Jokūbas Gintvainis

Season by season

Season Tier League Pos. Significant Events Baltic League Pos. LKF Cup
2003–04 2 LKAL 4
2004–05 2 LKAL 5
2005–06 Did not enter any competition
2006–07 2 NKL 5
2007–08 2 NKL 8
2008–09 2 NKL 8 Quarterfinalist
2009–10 2 NKL 6 Quarterfinalist
2010–11 2 NKL 1 Lost promotion playoffs
2011–12 1 LKL 5 Quarterfinalist Elite Division 9 Runner-up
2012–13 1 LKL 5 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist Runner-up
2013–14 1 LKL 5 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist Sixth round
2014–15 1 LKL 4 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist

Notable players

References

External links

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