Neha Patil (Editor)

1959 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

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Teams
  
32

Finals Site
  
Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri

Champions
  
Tennessee State (3rd title, 3rd title game, 3rd Final Four)

Runner-Up
  
Pacific Lutheran (1st title game, 2nd Final Four)

Semifinalists
  
Southwest Texas State (2nd Final Four) Fort Hays State (1st Final Four)

Coach of the Year
  
Bob Davis (Georgetown (Ky.))

The 1959 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 22nd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The 1959 Tournament is the first tournament to use the 16-seed system, which is still used today. The championship game again featured Tennessee State University. The Tigers defeated the Lutes of Pacific Lutheran University. It would be the first time any school would win three consecutive tournaments; a feat only repeated once, by Kentucky State, in 1970-1972.

Contents

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1959 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:

  • Leading scorer est. 1963
  • Leading rebounder est. 1963
  • Player of the Year est. 1994
  • Most consecutive tournament victories; continues: 18 overall; 5 in 1959, Tennessee State, 1957-58-59-60
  • Most rebounds: 32, Ken Remley, West Virginia Wesleyan vs. Whittier (Calif.)
  • All-time leading scorer; second appearance: Charles Sharp, 5th Southwest Texas State (1957,59,60) 12 games, 118 field goals, 69 free throws, 305 total points, 25.4 average per game
  • All-time leading scorers; final 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.

    • 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

    1959 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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