The 1939 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at
Municipal Auditorium in
Kansas City, Missouri. 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-profe ...
, 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 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 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 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
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Bracket
* * denotes overtime.
See also
* 1939 National Invitation 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