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1952 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

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Teams
  
32

Finals Site
  
Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri

Champions
  
Southwest Missouri State (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four)

Runner-Up
  
Murray State (Ky.) (2nd title game, 4th Final Four)

Semifinalists
  
Southwest Texas State (1st Final Four) Portland (Ore.) (1st Final Four)

Chuck Taylor MVP
  
Benny Purcell (Murray State (Ky.))

The 1952 NAIA Men's Division I 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 University, now Missouri State University, who defeated Murray State University by a score of 73 to 64. Finishing out the NAIA Final Four, and playing for the 3rd place game were Southwest Texas State, now Texas State University–San Marcos, and the University of Portland. The Bears of Southwest Missouri State defeated the Pilots of Portland by a score of 78 to 68. A notorious game happened in the first round between Moringside College (Iowa) and Pepperdine University (Calif.). There was a tournament record of 40 personal fouls between the two teams in one game. Incidentally, Morningside would win the game 84 to 80.

Contents

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.

    • 1952 NAIA bracket

  •  *  denotes each overtime.

    • 3rd place game

    The third place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinalist to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

    References

    1952 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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