Harman Patil (Editor)

1981 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

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Teams
  
32

Finals Site
  
Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri

Champions
  
Bethany Nazarene (Okla.) (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four)

Runner-Up
  
Alabama - Huntsville (1st title game, 1st Final Four)

Semifinalists
  
Wisconsin–Eau Claire (3rd Final Four) Hillsdale (Mich.) (1st Final Four)

Coach of the Year
  
Ken Anderson (Wisconsin–Eau Claire)

The 1981 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held in March at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. The 44th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game featured Bethany Nazarene College and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. It was the first time the championship game that went into overtime. Bethany Nazarene edged out Alabama-Huntsville with the final score of 86-85 (OT). 1981 was also the first year the NAIA held a women's national basketball championship tournament. For the second time since 1963, the year the award was established, there was a tie for the leading scorer. Todd Thurman, and George Torres both scored 104 over course of the 1981 tournament. There have been no ties since. And for the first time since the Coach of the Year Award was established, Ken Anderson, won Coach of the Year for the second time. No other coach has won the award twice.

Contents

Awards and honors

  • Leading scorers; tie: Todd Thurman, Bethany Nazarene (Okla.); 5 games, 42 field goals, 20 free throws, totaling 104 points (averaging 20.8 points per game); George Torres, Bethany Nazarene (Okla.); 5 games, 33 field goals, 38 free throws, totaling 104 points (averaging 20.8 points per game)
  • Leading rebounder: Ricky Knight, Alabama-Huntsville. In 5 games, 62 total rebounds (averaging 12.4 rebounds per game)
  • Player of the Year: est. 1994
  • All-time leading scorer; second appearance: Tony Carr 13th, Wisconsin–Eau Claire (1979,80,81,82); 15 games, 114 field goals, 45 free throws, totaling 273 points (18.2 average points per game).

    • 1981 NAIA bracket

  •  * denotes 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

    1981 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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