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.[1]

1954 NAIA men's basketball tournament
Season1953–54
Teams32
Finals siteMunicipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
ChampionsSt. Benedict's (KS) (1st title, 1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Runner-upWestern Illinois (1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Semifinalists
Coach of the yearSam Hindsman (Arkansas Tech)
MVPJerry Anderson (Southwest Missouri State)
NAIA men's basketball tournament
«1953 1955»

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

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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.[2]

Bracket

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First round Second round Elite Eight NAIA national semifinals NAIA national championship
          
SW Missouri State 77
East Tennessee State 72
SW Missouri State 66
Gustavus Adolphus 57
Gustavus Adolphus 104
Mississippi Southern 64
SW Missouri State 65
TOP TIER
East Texas State 59*
East Texas State 72
Portland 59
East Texas State 79
Geneva 52
Geneva 88
Indiana State 82
SW Missouri State 75
Western Illinois State 78
Rio Grande 90
Arizona State-Flagstaff 74
Western Illinois State 79
Southeastern State 74*
Southeastern State (OK) 77
Georgetown (KY) 76
Western Illinois State 84
TOP TIER
Southeastern Louisiana 79*
Southeastern Louisiana 68
Montana State 62
Southeastern Louisiana 78
Rio Grande 65
Western Illinois State 84
Morris Harvey 68
Western Illinois State 56
St. Benedict's 62
St. Peter's (NJ) 76
Wayland 63
St. Peter's 63
Regis 58
Regis 61
Tennessee A&I State 58
Arkansas Tech 81
BOTTOM TIER
St. Peter's 77
Arkansas Tech 100
Mercer 72
Arkansas Tech 85
Lawrence Tech 72
Lawrence Tech 75
Carroll (WI) 70
Arkansas Tech 59
St. Benedict's 63
St. Benedict's (KS) 68
East Carolina 61
St. Benedict's 74
St. Ambrose 50
St. Ambrose 77 NAIA third-place game
North Dakota 70
Pasadena 61 SW Missouri State 75
BOTTOM TIER
St. Benedict's 62 Arkansas Tech 61
Nebraska Wesleyan 58
Whitworth 54*
Pasadena 81
Nebraska Wesleyan 74
Pasadena 79
Bridgeport 60
  •  * denotes overtime.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  2. ^ NAIA Championship History Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine