The 1956 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 19th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. 1956 would be the last tournament with unseeded teams. The championship game featured

McNeese State University McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. ...

and

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,000 ...

. It was the first and only appearance for the McNeese State made in the NAIA tournament. The Cowboys beat the Tigers, 60–55. The third-place game featured Pittsburg State who defeated the Wheaton Thunder, 77–70. This tournament featured six all-time leading scorers.

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1956 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 *Top single-game performances: ''Jim Spivey'' of Southeastern Oklahoma vs State Georgia Southern. Spivey scored 17 field goals 9 free throws, totaling 43 points. *Most free throws made; career: ''120'' free throws made by Jim Spivey of Southeastern Oklahoma State (1954,55,56,57). *All-time leading scorers; first appearance: ''Dick Barnett, 3rd'', Tennessee State (1956,57,58,59) 18 games, 186 field goals, 79 free throws, 451 total points 25.1 average per game, ''Charles Curtis, 8th'', Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) (1956,57,58,59) 14 games 101 field goals, 85 free throws, 287 total points, 20.5 average per game, ''Roger Iverson, 20th'', Pacific Lutheran (1956,57,58,59) 14 games, 109 field goals, 23 free throws, 241 total points, 17.2 average per game, and ''John Barnhill, 21st'', Tennessee State (1956,57,58,59) 17 games, 104 field goals, 27 free throws, 235 total points, 13.8 average per game. *All-time leading scorer; second appearance: ''Bennie Swain, 6th'' Texas Southern (1955,56,57,58) 15 games, 119 field goals, 64 free throws, 302 total points, 20.1 average per game. *All-time leading scorer; third appearance: ''James Spivey, 4th'', Southeastern Oklahoma (1954,55,56,57) 13 games, 133 field goals, 120 free throws, 386 total points, 29.7 average per game.NAIA Championship History

Bracket

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 basketball tournament Naia or NAIA may refer to: Sports * National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics * NAIA Softball Championship * NAIA Volleyball Championship * NAIA World Series * NAIA Wrestling Championship * NAIA lacrosse Other * Naia (skeleton), a Paleoam ...

Awards and honors

Bracket

See also

References