1954 NAIA basketball tournament

College basketball tournament August 2023October 2023 NAIA men's basketball tournament 1954 150px 1954 NAIA Basketball Tournament 32 Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri St. Benedict's (KS) 1st 1st 1st 1st Western Illinois 1st Southwest Missouri State 3rd Arkansas Tech 1st Sam Hindsman Arkansas Tech Jerry Anderson Southwest Missouri State unknown The 1954 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 17th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.http://naia.cstv.com/ NAIA.org 2020-05-16 https://web.archive.org/web/20090501033134/http://naia.cstv.com/ 2009-05-01 dead The Southwest Missouri State Bears were out to claim an unprecedented three straight national title, but Western Illinois handed them an upset in the National Semifinals, forcing the Bears to settle for third place. The teams that played in the national championship game, were Western Illinois, and St. Benedict's (KS). St. Benedict's would defeat Western Illinois, 62–56. It was the first time these two teams had played in tournament history, and it was the first time two new teams met in the championship game since 1947. Southwest Missouri State, now Missouri State, and the previous two time champion would settle for a third place victory over Arkansas Tech 75–61. The 1954 tournament would see the beginning of one of the best players the NAIA had ever seen. Jim Spivey of Southeastern Oklahoma would begin his journey to most all time free throws made, and 4th on the all-time scoring list. It would also be the first year for the awarding of the Coach of the Year Award. This award goes to the best coach in the NAIA over the past year, which is not necessarily the tournament winning coach. The first award went to Sam Hindsman of Arkansas Tech. The Georgetown Tigers make their first NAIA appearance. It would become a tournament record for most tournament appearances in 1974 with twelve, and in the 1990s would start a twenty-six year consecutive appearance streak, a tournament record. Awards and honors Many of the records set by the 1954 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later: Leading scorer est. 1963 Leading rebounder est. 1963 Charles Stevenson Hustle Award est. 1958 Player of the Year est. 1994 Most free throws made; career: 120 free throws made by Jim Spivey of Southeastern Oklahoma State (1954,55,56,57). In 1954, Spivey began his four-year trek to tournament record. Most tournament appearances: Georgetown (Ky.) 1954 would be the first of 36, as of 2017, appearances to the NAIA Tournament All-time scoring leader; first appearance: James Spivey, 4th Southeastern Oklahoma State (1954,55,56,57), 13 games, 133 field goals, 120 free throws, totaling 386 points, 29.7 average per game. All-time scoring leader; second appearance: James Miller, 18th, East Texas State (1953,54,55), 13 games, 103 field goals, 40 free throws, totaling 246 points, 18.9 average per game. All-time scoring leader; third appearance: E.C. O’Neal, 9th, Arkansas Tech (1952,53,54,55), 13 games, 122 field goals, 43 free throws, totaling 287 points, 22.1 average per game.NAIA Championship History https://web.archive.org/web/20080515144808/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/naia/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/mensd1champhistory.pdf 2008-05-15 Bracket First round Second round Elite Eight NAIA national semifinals NAIA national championship NAIA third-place game TOP TIER TOP TIER BOTTOM TIER BOTTOM TIER 170 30 no high SW Missouri State 77 East Tennessee State 72 Gustavus Adolphus 104 Mississippi Southern 64 East Texas State 72 Portland 59 Geneva 88 Indiana State 82 Rio Grande 90 Arizona State-Flagstaff 74 Southeastern State (OK) 77 Georgetown (KY) 76 Southeastern Louisiana 68 Montana State 62 Western Illinois State 84 Morris Harvey 68 St. Peter's (NJ) 76 Wayland 63 Regis 61 Tennessee A&I State 58 Arkansas Tech 100 Mercer 72 Lawrence Tech 75 Carroll (WI) 70 St. Benedict's (KS) 68 East Carolina 61 St. Ambrose 77 North Dakota 70 Nebraska Wesleyan 58 Whitworth 54* Pasadena 79 Bridgeport 60 SW Missouri State 66 Gustavus Adolphus 57 East Texas State 79 Geneva 52 Western Illinois State 79 Southeastern State 74* Southeastern Louisiana 78 Rio Grande 65 St. Peter's 63 Regis 58 Arkansas Tech 85 Lawrence Tech 72 St. Benedict's 74 St. Ambrose 50 Pasadena 81 Nebraska Wesleyan 74 SW Missouri State 65 East Texas State 59* Western Illinois State 84 Southeastern Louisiana 79* Arkansas Tech 81 St. Peter's 77 Pasadena 61 St. Benedict's 62 SW Missouri State 75 Western Illinois State 78 Arkansas Tech 59 St. Benedict's 63 Western Illinois State 56 St. Benedict's 62 SW Missouri State 75 Arkansas Tech 61  * denotes overtime. See also 1954 NCAA basketball tournament 1954 National Invitation Tournament References Category:NAIA men's basketball championship Tournament NAIA men's basketball tournament NAIA men's basketball tournament