1953 NAIA basketball tournament

1953 NAIA men's basketball tournament
Season	1952–53
Teams	32
Finals site	Municipal Auditorium,Kansas City, Missouri
Champions	Southwest Missouri State (2nd title, 2nd title game,2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	Hamline (4th title game,6th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Indiana State (5th Final Four); East Texas State (1st Final Four);
MVP	Jerry Anderson (Southwest Missouri State)
NAIA men's basketball tournament
«1952	1954»

The 1953 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 16th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.^[1]

The championship game would feature Southwest Missouri State, now Missouri State University, and Hamline (10th appearance in tournament). The Bears were coached by Bob Vanatta. The championship game was the first time that these two teams had ever met in the tournament. The Bears would defeat the Pipers to win another national championship, 79–71.

It was the first time since 1937 and 1938, the first two years of the tournament, that the same team would win the national championship title. (The first two tournaments were also won by a Missouri university, Central Missouri State.)

Playing for third place were Indiana State and East Texas State, now Texas A&M University–Commerce. It was the first time that these two teams had played each other. The Sycamores defeated the Lions by a score of 74 to 71.

The 1953 tournament would be Hamline's first, and only, second place title as well as Indiana State's first, and only, third place title, making them the first two schools to win, outright, first, second, third, and fourth places in the NAIA tournament (Georgetown (KY) the only other school to have that honor).

It is the last year without the Coach of the Year Award. 1953 is the first tournament to feature a Nazarene University (Pasadena, now Point Loma Nazarene). Perennial staples to the tournament, only a handful of years have been absence of a Nazarene University playing. There were two games in which all-time top performances would be recorded.

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1953 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:

Leading Scorer Award est. 1963
Leading Rebounder Award est. 1963
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award est. 1958
Coach of the Year est. 1954
Player of the Year est. 1994
Top single-game performances: 3rd Harold Wolfe of Findlay (Ohio) playing against Pasadena (Calif.) scored 25 field goals and 4 free throws totaling 54 points for one game. Findlay won the game.
Top single-game performances: 22nd Pete Kinkead of Geneva (Pa.) playing against Tennessee State, scored 14 field goals and 15 free throws totaling 43 points for one game. Geneva did not win the game.
All-time scoring leader; first appearance: James Miller, 18th, East Texas State (1953,54,55), 13 games, 103 field goals, 40 free throws, totaling 246 points, 18.9 average per game.
All-time scoring leader; second 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; final 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.^[2]

Bracket

First round		Second round		Elite Eight		NAIA national semifinals		NAIA national championship

Eastern Illinois State	84

Morris Harvey	67
		Eastern Illinois State	86

		Hamline	88
Hamline	89

Louisiana Tech	80
				Hamline	102
TOP TIER
				Mississippi Southern	92
Mississippi Southern	106

River Falls State	72
		Mississippi Southern	94

		Loyola (Md.)	83
Loyola Maryland	66

Portland	64
						Hamline	73

						East Texas State	71
East Texas State	57

Adrian	40
		East Texas State	85

		St. Peter's	68
St. Peter's	81

Southwestern State (OK)	60
				East Texas State	72
TOP TIER
				Tennessee A&I State	67
St. Benedict's (KS)	69

North Dakota	66
		St. Benedict's	56

		Tennessee A&I State	79
Tennessee A&I State	89

Geneva	88
								Hamline	71

								Southwest Missouri State	79
SW Missouri State	95

Gonzaga	74
		Southwest Missouri State	98

		Stetson	71
Stetson	75

State College of Iowa	57
				Southwest Missouri State	78
BOTTOM TIER
				Nebraska Wesleyan	74
Nebraska Wesleyan	83

Arnold	62
		Nebraska Wesleyan	83

		Arizona State-Tempe	71
Arizona State-Tempe	81

East Tennessee State	79
						Southwest Missouri State	84

						Indiana State	78
Pasadena	107

Ricks	72
		Pasadena	93

		Findlay	96
Findlay	80							NAIA third-place game

Adams State	63
				Findlay	70			East Texas State	71
BOTTOM TIER
				Indiana State	106			Indiana State	74
Arkansas Tech	85

East Carolina	81
		Arkansas Tech	81

		Indiana State	100
Midwestern	76

Indiana State	100

References

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

[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

[1]

[2]

1953 NAIA basketball tournament

Awards and honors

Bracket

See also

References