1941 NAIA basketball tournament
| Teams | 32 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals site | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri | ||||
| Champions | San Diego State (1st title, 3rd title game, 3rd Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Murray State (1st title game, 2nd Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| MVP | Charles Thomas (Northwestern State) | ||||
| |||||
The 1941 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 5th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1]
The third time was the charm for the San Diego State Aztecs. After losing the previous two years to Southwestern College and Tarkio College, the Aztecs finally won beating Murray State, 36–34.
It also was the first time that the tournament MVP was awarded to a player whose team did not win the championship, or make the NAIA Final Four (Charles Thomas played for Northwestern State which lost in the second round to Texas Wesleyan. San Diego State was the first team to make it to the championship game three times.
Awards and honors
[edit]Many of the records set by the 1941 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
- Coach of the Year est. 1954
- Player of the Year est. 1994[2]
Bracket
[edit]| First round | Second round | Elite Eight | NAIA national semifinals | NAIA national championship | |||||||||||||||
| West Texas State | 77 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dubuque | 39 | ||||||||||||||||||
| West Texas State | 52 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Mary’s (MN) | 39 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Saint Mary’s (MN) | 38 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tarkio | 28 | ||||||||||||||||||
| West Texas State | 54 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TOP TIER | |||||||||||||||||||
| Delta State | 34 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Superior State | 51 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Morningside | 42 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Superior State | 45 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Delta State | 53 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Delta State | 52 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sioux Falls | 35 | ||||||||||||||||||
| West Texas State | 40 | ||||||||||||||||||
| San Diego State | 43 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern State (LA) | 50 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Central Missouri State | 43 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern State (LA) | 47 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Wesleyan | 56 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Wesleyan | 71 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Evansville | 62 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Wesleyan | 42 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TOP TIER | |||||||||||||||||||
| San Diego State | 44 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Culver-Stockton | 40 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Western | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Culver-Stockton | 41* | ||||||||||||||||||
| San Diego State | 46 | ||||||||||||||||||
| San Diego State | 46 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Western Montana | 29 | ||||||||||||||||||
| San Diego State | 36 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Murray State | 34 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen F. Austin | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Simpson | 50 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen F. Austin | 28 | ||||||||||||||||||
| NW Missouri State | 34 | ||||||||||||||||||
| NW Missouri State | 35 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dakota Wesleyan | 31 | ||||||||||||||||||
| NW Missouri State | 43 | ||||||||||||||||||
| BOTTOM TIER | |||||||||||||||||||
| Murray State | 46 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Alma | 43 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Panhandle A&M | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Alma | 33 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Murray State | 51 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Murray State | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon College | 46 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Murray State | 35 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Santa Barbara | 33 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Appalachian State | 63 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Baker (KS) | 42 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Appalachian State | 48 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Baltimore | 36 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Baltimore | 52 | NAIA Third-place game | |||||||||||||||||
| Omaha | 35 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Appalachian State | 29 | West Texas State | 43 | ||||||||||||||||
| BOTTOM TIER | |||||||||||||||||||
| Santa Barbara | 36 | Santa Barbara | 35 | ||||||||||||||||
| Santa Barbara | 32 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wayne State (NE) | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bemidji State | 29* | ||||||||||||||||||
| Santa Barbara | 31 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bemidji State | 35 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pittsburg State | 33 | ||||||||||||||||||
- * denotes overtime.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]| Non-divisional (1937–1991, 2021–present) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divisional era (1992–2020) |
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The NAIA canceled the 2020 tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic and removed divisional classifications starting in 2020–21. | |||||
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