KLAIPEDA (Basketball Champions League) - The roars of approval for Arnas Butkevicius on Wednesday night in the Svyturio Arena after his Neptunas Klaipeda side won against PAOK, 82-69, were richly deserved.

The Klaipeda-born forward often hears more applause than his teammates when he plays in front of his hometown crowd.

Against PAOK, though, the noise was even louder because Butkevicius gave the supporters another reason to shout his name. He had the biggest outing by a Neptunas player since last season in the Basketball Champions League. On December 6 of last year, Jimmy Baron torched Muratbey Usak Sportif for 42 points. He drilled 10 3-pointers in that game and 15 of 20 shots from the floor overall.

Butkevicius, meanwhile, recorded a triple-double against PAOK, becoming just the second player in the Basketball Champions League to do so. Chris Kramer had pulled off the feat last season, on January 11, 2017, while playing for EWE Baskets Oldenburg in a win over Muratbey Usak Sportif.

The performance against PAOK, not surprisingly, has led to Butkevicius being named the Gameday 6 Player of the Week.

The fact that the 25-year-old, who has been so reliable and such a protagonist for Neptunas that he's been included in Lithuania's squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers, hails from Klaipeda definitely made the occasion all the sweeter.

His teammates were elated, too, running immediately to him to give the small forward bear hugs after he collected his 10th assist in the last seconds of the game. Butkevicius also had 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Every player dreams of getting a triple-double but most important for Butkevicius was the team's third straight victory and fifth in six games in the Basketball Champions League.

"There was a good game plan by the coaches," he said. "It's a good thing the plan worked and we didn't make a lot of mistakes. We started the game aggressively on both ends, offensively and defensively. We played fast and aggressively and kept it (that way) for the rest of the game."

Butkevicius is averaging 12.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists for Neptunas in Europe, who right now appear to be a team that can make it to the Final Four and challenge for the title. He also looks like a player that can start making his mark for the national team.

And there is no doubt he'll hear plenty of cheers, too, because Lithuania's first home game in the World Cup Qualifiers on November 26 will be in Klaipeda, a port city where the Baltic Sea meets the Dane River. 

"The people in Klaipeda really love basketball," Butkevicius said to FIBA.basketball. "I think we can expect a full arena of passionate, emotional fans, who will create an excellent atmosphere in the Qualifiers."

It's great news for fans in Klaipeda that they'll be able to cheer for their favorite son in a Lithuania jersey. Rest assurd, though, that just as sweet for them will be the chance to watch Butkevicius a lot more this season with Neptunas.