1954 NAIA basketball tournament

1954 (1954) NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
Teams	32
Finals Site	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Champions	St. Benedict's (Kan.) (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Runner-Up	Western Illinois (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Southwest Missouri State (3rd Final Four) Arkansas Tech (1st Final Four)
Coach of the Year	Sam Hindsman (Arkansas Tech)
Chuck Taylor MVP	Jerry Anderson (Southwest Missouri State)
NAIA Men's Division I Tournaments ← 1953 1955 →

The 1954 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 17th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The Southwest Missouri State University Bears were out to claim an unprecedented three straight national title. But Western Illinois handed them an upset in the National Semifinals, and the Bears had to settle for 3rd place. This left the title open for a new champion. It was the first time two new teams met in the championship game since 1947. The teams that played in the national championship game, were Western Illinois, and St. Benedict's (Kan.). St. Benedict's would defeat Western Illinois by a score of 62 to 56. It was the first time these two teams had played in tournament history.

Southwest Missouri State, now Missouri State and the previous two time champion would settle for a third place victory over Arkansas Tech 75 to 61.

The 1954 tournament would see the beginning of one of the best players the NAIA had ever seen. Jim Spivey of Southeastern Oklahoma would begin his journey to most all time free throws made, and 4th on the all-time scoring list. It would also be the first year for the awarding of the Coach of the Year Award. This award goes to the best coach in the NAIA over the past year, which is not necessarily the tournament winning coach. The first award went to Sam Hindsman of Arkansas Tech.

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1954 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
• Player of the Year est. 1994
• Most free throws made; career: 120 free throws made by Jim Spivey of Southeastern Oklahoma State (1954,55,56,57). In 1954, Spivey began his four-year trek to tournament record.
• Most tournament appearances: Georgetown (Ky.) 1954 would be the first of 28, as of 2009, appearances to the NAIA Tournament
• All-time scoring leader; first appearance: James Spivey, 4th Southeastern Oklahoma State (1954,55,56,57), 13 games, 133 field goals, 120 free throws, totaling 386 points, 29.7 average per game.
• All-time scoring leader; second 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; third 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.

1954 NAIA bracket

	First Round					Second Round					Elite Eight					NAIA National Semifinals					NAIA National Championship
	-	Southwest Missouri State	77
	-	East Tennessee State	72
						-	Southwest Missouri State	66
						-	Gustavus Adolphus	57
	-	Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.)	104
	-	Mississippi Southern	64
											-	Southwest Missouri State	65
	TOP TIER
											-	East Texas State	59*
	-	East Texas State	72
	-	Portland (Ore.)	59
						-	East Texas State	79
						-	Geneva	52
	-	Geneva (Pa.)	88
	-	Indiana State	82
																-	Southwest Missouri State	75
																-	Western Illinois State	78
	-	Rio Grande (Ohio)	90
	-	Arizona State-Flagstaff	74
						-	Western Illinois State	79
						-	Southeastern Oklahoma State	74*
	-	Southeastern Louisiana	77
	-	Georgetown (Ky.)	76
											-	Western Illinois State	84
	TOP TIER
											-	Southeastern Louisiana	79*
	-	Southeastern Oklahoma State	68
	-	Montana State	62
						-	Southeastern Louisiana	78
						-	Rio Grande	65
	-	Western Illinois State	84
	-	Morris Harvey (W.Va.)	68
																					-	Western Illinois State	56
																					-	St. Benedict's	62
	-	St. Peter's (N.J.)	76
	-	Wayland (Texas)	63
						-	St. Peter's	63
						-	Regis	58
	-	Regis (Colo.)	61
	-	Tennessee A&I State	58
											-	Arkansas Tech	81
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	St. Peter's	77
	-	Arkansas Tech	100
	-	Mercer (Ga.)	72
						-	Arkansas Tech	85
						-	Lawrence Tech	72
	-	Lawrence Tech (Mich.)	75
	-	Carroll (Wis.)	70
																-	Arkansas Tech	59
																-	St. Benedict's	63
	-	St. Benedict's (Kan.)	68
	-	East Carolina (N.C.)	61
						-	St. Benedict's	74
						-	St. Ambrose	50
	-	St. Ambrose (Iowa)	77
	-	North Dakota	70
											-	Pasadena	61
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	St. Benedict's	62
	-	Nebraska Wesleyan	58
	-	Whitworth (Wash.)	54*
						-	Pasadena	81
						-	Nebraska Wesleyan	74
	-	Pasadena (Calif.)	79
	-	Bridgeport (Conn.)	60

•  * denotes overtime.

3rd place game

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

	NAIA Third Place Game
	-	Southwest Missouri State	75
	-	Arkansas Tech	61

See also

• 1954 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
• 1954 National Invitation Tournament

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