1959 NAIA basketball tournament

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1959 NAIA men's basketball tournament
Season 195859
Teams32
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
Coach of the yearBob Davis (Georgetown (Ky.))
Charles Stevenson
Hustle Award
Roger Iverson (Pacific Lutheran (Wash.))
MVP Dick Barnett (Tennessee State)
NAIA men's basketball tournament
« 1958 1960 »

The 1959 NAIA men's 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. [1] The 1959 Tournament is the first tournament to use the 16-seed system, which was used until the 2015.

Contents

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, 1971, and 1972. It was also the first tournament that didn't feature an upset in the championship game and first time a "true" number 1 seed won the tournament since seeding began in 1957.

Awards and honors

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

1959 NAIA bracket

First round Second round Elite Eight NAIA national semifinals NAIA national championship
               
1 Tennessee State 75
- Nebraska Wesleyan 57
1 Tennessee State89
9 Youngstown 80
9 Youngstown (Ohio) 85
- Northern State (S.D.) 76
1 Tennessee State131
TOP TIER
8 Illinois State Normal 74
13 Culver-Stockton (Mo.) 66
- Fairleigh Dickinson (N.J.) 77
- Fairleigh-Dickinson 64
8 Illinois State Normal68
- Troy State (Ala.) 50
8 Illinois State Normal 98
1 Tennessee State64
5 Southwest Texas State 62
5 Southwest Texas State 93
- Linfield (Ore.) 61
5 Southwest Texas State61
12 Westminster (Pa.) 58
- Connecticut Teachers 76
12 Westminster (Pa.) 79
5 Southwest Texas State80
TOP TIER
16 Lenoir-Rhyne 78
- Northern Michigan 67
16 Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) 90
16 Lenoir-Rhyne88
4 Grambling State 78
- Christian Brothers (Tenn.) 70
4 Grambling State (La.) 81
1 Tennessee State97
3 Pacific Lutheran 87
3 Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) 78
- Western Montana 60
3 Pacific Lutheran68
14 Central State (Okla.) 57
- Kentucky State 65
14 Central State (Okla.) 72
3 Pacific Lutheran97
BOTTOM TIER
- Georgia Teachers 65
11 Platteville State (Wis.) 84
- Georgia Teachers 91
- Georgia Teachers73
6 Indiana State 70
- Morningside (Iowa) 67
6 Indiana State 87
3 Pacific Lutheran80
15 Fort Hays State 71
15 Fort Hays State (Kan.) 73
- Westminster (Utah) 60
15 Fort Hays State59
- Arkansas State Teachers 48
7 Pikeville (Ky.) 67
- Arkansas State Teachers 70
15 Fort Hays State98
BOTTOM TIER
2 West Virginia Wesleyan 83
- Austin (Texas) 79
10 Minnesota-Duluth 87
10 Minnesota-Duluth 75
2 West Virginia Wesleyan90
- Whittier (Calif.) 64
2 West Virginia Wesleyan 84

Third-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.

NAIA third-place game
   
5 Southwest Texas State87
15 Fort Hays State 80

See also

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References

  1. "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  2. NAIA Championship History Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine