The 1939 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at
Municipal Auditorium in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
. The 3rd annual
NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This was also the year the
NCAA basketball tournament was started.
This tournament also featured the lowest-scoring game in tournament history between
Loras College (Iowa) and
Central Missouri State University
The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri. In 2019, enrollment was 11,229 students from 49 states and 59 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, including 10 pre-profes ...
, the two-time champions. Loras scored a total of 16 points, a tournament low as well, Central Missouri State won the game with a total score of 20. The total combined score of the game was 36, resulting in the all-time lowest scoring game in tournament history.
The championship game featured
Southwestern (KS) defeat
San Diego State
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
by a score of 32-31. It would be the closest final score until the
1981 tournament which ended in overtime with a score of 86-85. (1939, 1981, and
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
are the only three years a team has won by one point, to date.)
This year the NAIA awarded the first
Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player Award The Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player Award was created to honor the most outstanding player for the NAIA Men's Division I National Championship Tournament. Established in 1939, it has been awarded every year with the exception of 1944. . The first award went to Edgar Hinshaw of Southwestern College
Awards and honors
Many of the records set by the 1939 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
*Fewest points by team; single game: ''16'', Loras (Iowa) vs. Central Missouri State 20.
*Fewest points in a tournament Game; both teams: ''36 total''; Central Missouri State vs. Loras (Iowa) (20-16).
NAIA Championship History archived via WebCite
/ref>
Bracket
* * denotes overtime.
See also
* 1939 National Invitation Tournament
The 1939 National Invitation Tournament was the 1939 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.
Selected teams
Below is a list of the six teams selected for the tournament.
References
{{NAIA men's basketball tournament
NAIA Men's Basketball Championship
Tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
NAIA Men’s Division I basketball tournament