Donatas Motiejunas sets defensive rebounding record

Donatas Motiejunas etched his name in the Euroleague record book on Wednesday by hauling in 18 defensive rebounds in Asseco Prokom Gdynia's 67-52 victory over Union Olimpija Ljubljana. The promising young big man more than doubled his previous rebounding high of 10 as he posted 11 points and 21 boards to lead the Polish champs to their first Turkish Airlines Euroleague win of the season. His 18 defensive rebounds eclipses the previous mark by 1, which was first set 11 years ago. Joseph Blair set the record in December 2001 when he played for Scavolini Pesaro and the competition’s rebounding king, Mirsad Turkcan, matched it in January 2003 with Montepaschi Siena. By finishing with 21 rebounds, Motiejunas became only the third person to ever haul in more than 20 boards in a single game. The all-time single-game rebounding record belongs to Antonis Fotsis, who collected 24 when he played for Dynamo Moscow in March 2007. Turkcan tallied 23 rebounds once and 21 on three occasions.