The 1952 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at
Municipal Auditorium in
Kansas City, Missouri. The 15th annual
NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
In 1952, the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) changes its name to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
The championship game featured
Southwest Missouri State, now Missouri State University, who defeated
Murray State, 73–64.
Finishing out the NAIA Final Four, and playing for the 3rd place game were
Southwest Texas State
Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...
, now Texas State University–San Marcos, and
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
. The Bears of Southwest Missouri State defeated the Pilots of Portland, 78–68.
A notorious game happened in the first round between
Moringside and
Pepperdine. There was a tournament record of forty personal fouls between the two teams in one game. Incidentally, Morningside would win the game 84 to 80.
Awards and honors
Many of the records set by the 1952 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
*Most personal fouls in one game: ''40'', Pepperdine (Calif.) vs. Morningside (Iowa)
*All-time scoring leader; first 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.
*All-time scoring leaders; third appearance: ''Lloyd Thorgaard, 10th'', Hamline (Minn.) (1950,51,52,53), 15 games, 111 field goals, 61 free throws, 283 total points, 18.9 average per game; ''James Fritsche, 14th'', Hamline (Minn.) (1950,51,52,53), 15 games, 113 field goals, 46 free throws, 272 total points, 18.1 average per game.
NAIA Championship History
Bracket
* * denotes each overtime.
See also
* 1952 NCAA basketball tournament
The 1952 NCAA basketball tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 14th annual edition of the tournament began on March 21, 1952, and e ...
* 1952 National Invitation Tournament
The 1952 National Invitation Tournament was the 1952 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. The 1952 tournament was won by La Salle University. Tom Gola and Norm Grekin were co- MVPs.
Selected teams
Below is a list of the 1 ...
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 men's basketball tournament