KAUNAS (Lithuania) - The last time the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup was played in Latvia came in 2011 when  neighbors Lithuania captured their only title in the global showcase. The Baltic powerhouse hopes a team led by Augustas Marciulionis, the Tubelis twins Azuolas and Tautvilas Tubelis and star talent Paulius Murauskas can bring back another crown to Lietuva.

That quartet were among the 16 players head coach Gediminas Petrauskas nominated for the Lithuania team that will compete at the U19 spectacle from July 3-11 in the Latvian cities of Daugavpils and Riga. Petrauskas will call together his preliminary squad for a training camp starting on June 1 in Klaipeda. Another camp is planned in Kedainiai and the team will finalize its preparations in Latvia.

Marciulionis, the son of Lithuanian legend Sarunas Marciulionis, will undoubtedly be one of the leaders of the team in Latvia after playing the whole season in the Lithuanian top flight for Rytas Vilnius as well as five games in the Basketball Champions League.

He along with the Tubelis twins, who both spent this past season in the United States with the University of Arizona, were among nine nominees who played for Lithuania at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2018, where they finished seventh. Hubertas Pivorius was second on that team in scoring and efficiency and Edgaras Preibys was third in scoring, second in rebounds and third in efficiency.

Despite being a year younger than the competition, Murauskas led Lithuania in scoring and rebounding at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2019, where the team took ninth place. Also joining the 2002 generation from that tournament were second-best rebounder Oleg Kojenets, second-best assist man Radvilas Kneizys as well as sharpshooter Liutauras Lelevicius and big man Rokas Jocius.

The 2002-born Dominykas Stenionis and Gabrielius Mazeika from the 2003 generation have not yet played for Lithuania internationally.

Petrauskas said the pool of available players was wider since the other youth national team competitions in the summer - such as the FIBA U18 European Championship - will be taking place but in an altered format.

"This allowed us to select players from younger age groups. As a result, the choice was certainly greater than before," said Petrauskas, who selected 10 players born in 2002, five who were from the 2003 generation as well as the 2004-born Murauskas.

The coach said friendly games have already been set up, including an exhibition against United States.

Lithuania have been drawn into Group A along with Senegal, Canada and Japan.

FIBA