In 1951 the EuroBasket was held in France, where the final between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia ended with a great controversy, when at the last second with a draw on the score (44-44), Butautas received a foul. Ignoring the nerves, he converted the free kick that gave the victory to the Soviets, who took 20 minutes to celebrate: there was a great commotion because one of the referees cancelled the kick and the other one gave it for good

In the fight for the Bronze the local France took the metal after beating Bulgaria by (55-52). Earlier in the semi-finals, the Soviet Union beat Bulgaria (72-54), and Czechoslovakia beat France by a tighter score (59-50)

Soviet Union 45
*Butautas – 17p
*Korkia – 15p
*Konev – 6p
*Lyssov – 4p
*Moisseev – 2p
Kullam – 1p
Vlassov – 0p
Kolpakov – 0p
Nikitin – 0p
Kruus – 0p
Lagunavitchus – 0p
Larionov – 0p

Czechoslovakia 44
*Mrazek – 16p
*Sip – 10p
*Kozak – 6p
*Skerik – 5p
*Nebuchia – 4p
Novak – 2p
Matousek – 1p
Baumruk – 0p
Zemanik – 0p
Rylich – 0p
Sobota – 0p
Vykydal – 0p