VILNIUS (EuroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Vytenis Cizauskas is one of the bright, young talents of Lithuanian basketball, something he proved the past couple of summers when helping the country capture titles.

At the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship in Riga and at last summer's U20 European Championship in Slovenia, Cizauskas played big minutes and made numerous contributions.

His hope of making a quick transition to the senior side was dashed on Friday when coach Jonas Kazlauskas announced the point guard was among the last two players to be cut from the team that will play at EuroBasket 2013.

Adas Juskevicius, a shooting guard who played for Lithuania at the 2008 and 2009 U20 European Championships, is the other player to give way.

Lithuania will take a veteran side to the EuroBasket in Slovenia, where they will compete in arguably the toughest of the pools, Group B, against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) and Latvia.

Newcomers include Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Donatas Motiejunas.

Kuzminskas, 23, is a 2.05m forward who can shoot from long range.

He averaged just over 14 minutes per game for BC Zalgiris last season in the Euroleague.

Motiejunas, meanwhile, is a 2.13m center who spent his rookie season in America in 2012-13 with the Houston Rockets.

First up for Lithuania, who haven't won the European Championship since 2003, will be Serbia.

The top six sides will qualify for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

If Spain are in the first six, then a top seven finish will seal a place at the World Cup.

Lithuania squad for EuroBasket: Mantas Kalnietis, Tomas Delinikaitis, Renaldas Seibutis, Martynas Pocius, Jonas Maciulis, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Linas Kleiza, Ksystof Lavrinovic, Donatas Motiejunas, Jonas Valanciunas, Robertas Javtokas and Darjus Lavrinovic.

FIBA