Berulava becomes third player in U16 European Championship history with such stat line
Latvian basketball player Benji Berulava became only the third player in U16 European Championship history to score at least 30 points and grab 20 rebounds in a single game, after his performance in a win over the Czech Republic. He also leads the tournament in scoring.
Latvia's U16 national basketball team player Benji Berulava made history at the ongoing European Championship following today's win over the Czech Republic. He scored 33 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in the game, becoming only the third player in U16 European Championship history to record at least 30 points and 20 rebounds in a single match.
The feat was previously achieved by Serbia's Marko Pecarski in 2016, ironically in a game against Latvia, when he scored 30 points and pulled down 27 rebounds. Before that, in 2006, Spain's Ricky Rubio put up a remarkable stat line of 51 points and 24 rebounds as a point guard. Berulava's 22 rebounds also rank as the ninth-highest single-game total in U16 tournament history.
Tournament statistical leader
After three games, Berulava is a clear leader across several statistical categories. He tops the tournament in scoring with an average of 27.7 points per game, well ahead of the next-best player's 20.5. He also leads in rebounding with an average of 16.3 per game, compared to 11.5 for the second-placed player. In blocks, he ranks third with an average of 2.7 per game, while in assists he sits within the tournament's top 20, averaging four per game.
Berulava also owns two of the three highest single-game scoring totals in the tournament, having scored 22, 28 and 33 points across his three matches. The tournament's single highest scoring performance belongs to Romania's Sebastian Petru-Lapuste, who scored 34 points against Lithuania.
Another member of the Latvian squad, Markuss Jahovičs, has also stood out, averaging 18.3 points per game to rank third among the tournament's top scorers.
