Gabrielius "Gabas" Maldūnas (born 19 April 1993) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player who plays as a center for Lietkabelis Panevėžys of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroCup. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 2015.

Early life and high school

Maldūnas was born in Panevėžys,

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

where he went to school and played basketball until 2008. In the summer of 2008 he went to the US to study and play basketball at Holderness School. He played there for three years and each year his team made the

NEPSAC The New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) is an organization that serves as the governing body for sports in preparatory schools and leagues in New England. The organization has 169 full member schools as well as 24 associate ...

playoffs, reaching the finals once. In his senior year of high school, Gabas was the team’s captain, averaging 18 points and 8 rebounds.

College career

Maldūnas had a very successful career at Dartmouth College, appearing in 102 games for the Big Green. He is one of four Ivy League players to ever score 1,000 points, and record over 700 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 blocks and 100 steals. During his sophomore year Gabas was selected to the All-Ivy second team. He continued playing strong during his junior year, but his season was cut short due to an

ACL injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

on January 20, 2014. He came back for his senior year and helped the Big Green achieve their best record since 1998-1999 season. He was selected to the All-Ivy second team for the second time in his career along with his teammate

Alex Mitola Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple pe ...

. Maldunas' game-winning shot in the last game of the season against Yale was on SC Top 10 and it helped the Big Green to get invited to the first post season tournament since 1959. However, they lost to

Canisius Canisius may refer to: People * Saint Peter Canisius (1521–1597), Dutch Jesuit Catholic priest * Theodorich Canisius (1532–1606), Jesuit academic, half-brother of St. Peter Canisius * Henricus Canisius (1562–1610), Dutch canonist and historia ...

in the first round of the CIT Tournament. Gabas finished his

Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to: Places * Dartmouth, Devon, England ** Dartmouth Harbour * Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States * Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada * Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia Institutions * Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...

career 22nd on the scoring list, 3rd in career blocked shots and 4th in rebounds. He was the first

player in 56 years to record 1,000 points and 700 rebounds and only the second ever to record 100 career blocks and 100 steals. In June 2015 he graduated with an Economics degree and went on to play professional basketball in Europe.

Professional career

CB Peñas Huesca

On 28 August 2015, Maldūnas signed to play in the second-tier league in Spain for CB Peñas Huesca. During the regular season he averaged 10 points and 6.6 rebounds while helping a very young and inexperienced

Peñas Peñas is a location in the La Paz Department in Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Boliv ...

team record 16 wins and 14 losses and make the playoffs as the 7th seed. In the playoffs the

made it all the way to the finals after beating

Oviedo CB Oviedo Club Baloncesto, also known as Alimerka Oviedo Baloncesto for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team based in Oviedo, Asturias, that plays in the Spanish LEB Oro league. History First years Oviedo CB was founded in 2004 ...

3-1 in the first round and CB Miraflores also 3-1 in the semifinals. However, the team lost the final series 3-0 to

Club Melilla Baloncesto Club Melilla Baloncesto is a professional basketball team based in Melilla that plays in the LEB league. This is the only team in Spain that played all LEB seasons. The team's home arena is the Pabellón Javier Imbroda Ortiz (formerly known a ...

Palencia Baloncesto

On 7 July 2016, Maldūnas signed with the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

LEB Oro champions Palencia Baloncesto. He led his team to the finals by scoring 20 points and getting 8 rebounds in the series deciding game against

. The team lost in the finals to CB Miraflores.

Kėdainiai Nevėžis

On 4 August 2017, Maldūnas signed with

Nevėžis Kėdainiai The Nevėžis () is the sixth longest river in Lithuania and one of the main tributaries of the Nemunas. Its length is , and it flows only within the geographical confines of Lithuania.Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). The team finished in 8th place in

2017–18 LKL season The 2017–18 Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, also called Betsafe-LKL for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th season of the top-tier level professional basketball league of Lithuania, the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). The season started in September 201 ...

and lost to BC Žalgiris in the first round of the playoffs. In

2018–19 LKL season The 2018–19 Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, also called Betsafe-LKL for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the top-tier level professional basketball league of Lithuania, the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL) (''Engl ...

the team finished in 9th place.

Lietkabelis Panevėžys

On 11 July 2019, Maldūnas signed with Lietkabelis Panevėžys of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). The team finished in third place in

2019–20 LKL season The 2019–20 Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, also called Betsafe-LKL for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th season of the top-tier level professional basketball league of Lithuania, the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). On 13 March 2020, season was ended ...

and also won bronze medal in King Mindaugas Cup. The team also made it to the playoffs of the Basketball Champions League. On 7 July 2022, Maldūnas signed a two-year contract extension with the club.

Personal life

While at

, Maldunas was a member of Beta Alpha Omega fraternity and

Sphinx Senior Society The Sphinx Senior Society is one of the oldest senior honor societies at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The organization, founded in 1900, is self-perpetuating and consists of a maximum of 30 members selected annually ...

References

External links

Dartmouth Big Green bio

RealGM profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maldunas, Gabrielius 1993 births Living people BC Lietkabelis players CB Peñas Huesca players Centers (basketball) Dartmouth Big Green men's basketball players Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Spain Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in the United States Lithuanian men's basketball players Palencia Baloncesto players Power forwards Sportspeople from Panevėžys 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players