ORADEA (Romania) - Latvia's Benjamin Berrouet cemented his name in the FIBA U16 EuroBasket record brooks with the greatest efficiency average in the tournament's history.
Berrouet finished with an impressive valuation of 36.2 to eclipse the record of 33.1 previously held by Ricky Rubio in 2006 - leading Latvia to the title in the process as MVP.
"It's an honor, it's a blessing in this moment," Berrouet said post-game. "I did this for my family, I did it for Latvia."
"I never let the pressure get to me. I wanted to do it for my team, and not myself."
Consistently dominant throughout the 2026 edition, Berrouet hit a top mark of 40 on two separate occasions; posting 33 points and 22 rebounds against Czechia in the Group Phase, as well as posting 25 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks in the Quarter-Final victory over Greece.
The performance against Czechia also saw Berrouet join the exclusive 30-20 club at the tournament, alongside Rubio and Marko Pecarski.
Berrouet was also one assist shy of a triple-double with 12 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists against Serbia in the Round of 16, with a double-double in each of his seven appearances in the tournament.
Highest efficiency averages
Rank | Player | Team | Year | Games played | EFFPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Latvia | 2026 | 7 | 36.2 | |
2. | Spain | 2006 | 8 | 33.1 | |
3. | Serbia | 2016 | 7 | 31.1 | |
4. | Bulgaria | 2011 | 9 | 30.3 | |
5. | Türkiye | 2008 | 8 | 29.3 | |
6. | Spain | 2016 | 7 | 28.4 | |
7. | Croatia | 2010 | 8 | 27.8 | |
8. | Russia | 1997 | 8 | 27.4 | |
= | Russia | 2005 | 8 | 27.4 | |
10. | Lithuania | 2011 | 7 | 26.7 |
*since 1995
Berrouet also made it into the top five in average rebounds with 15.0 per game across his seven appearances - only the fourth player to hit that mark.
He also had 3.6 blocks per game, which tied for fifth place on the all-time averages list.
Highest rebounding averages
Rank | Player | Team | Year | Games played | Rebounds | RPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Türkiye | 2008 | 8 | 132 | 16.5 | |
2. | Serbia | 2016 | 7 | 111 | 15.9 | |
3. | Croatia | 1999 | 7 | 107 | 15.3 | |
4. | Latvia | 2026 | 7 | 105 | 15.0 | |
5. | Russia | 2004 | 8 | 116 | 14.5 | |
= | Russia | 2005 | 8 | 116 | 14.5 |
*since 1995
Meanwhile, Türkiye guard Kuzey Baysal set the U16 EuroBasket average assists record with 8.6 per game, and Lithuania's Danielius Jasikevicius made into the top three with his 7.3 mark.
Local hero Sebastian-Petru Lapuste - who inspired Romania to their first-ever appearance in the Quarter-Finals - produced 5.0 steals per game putting him only behind Rubio's eye-catching effort of 6.5 per outing from 2006.
FIBA