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