1953 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1953 NAIA Men's 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 University, now Missouri State University, and Hamline University (Minn.) (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 by the score of 79 to 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 University.)

1953 (1953) NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Teams32
ChampionsSouthwest Missouri State
(2nd title, 2nd title game,
2nd Fab Four)
Runner-UpHamline (Minn.)
(4th title game,
6th Fab Four)
SemifinalistsIndiana State
East Texas State
Chuck Taylor MVPJerry Anderson
(Southwest Missouri State)

Playing for 3rd place was Indiana State University and East Texas State University, 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 University's first, and only, 2nd place title as well as Indiana State University's first, and only, 3rd place title. Making them the first two schools to win, outright, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th 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 (Calif.), now Point Loma Nazarene University). 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]

1953 NAIA bracket
First Round Second Round Elite Eight NAIA National Semifinals NAIA National Championship
               
- Eastern Illinois State 84
- Morris Harvey (W.Va.) 67
- Eastern Illinois State 86
- Hamline 88
- Hamline (Minn.) 89
- Louisiana Tech 80
- Hamline 102
TOP TIER
- Mississippi Southern 92
- Mississippi Southern 106
- River Falls State (Wis.) 72
- Mississippi Southern 94
- Loyola (Md.) 83
- Loyola (Md.) 66
- Portland (Ore.) 64
- Hamline 73
- East Texas State 71
- East Texas State 57
- Adrian (Mich.) 40
- East Texas State 85
- St. Peter's 68
- St. Peter's (N.J.) 81
- Southwestern Oklahoma State 60
- East Texas State 72
TOP TIER
- Tennessee A&I State 67
- St. Benedict's (Kan.) 69
- North Dakota 66
- St. Benedict's 56
- Tennessee A&I State 79
- Tennessee A&I State 89
- Geneva (Pa.) 88
- Hamline 71
- Southwest Missouri State 79
- Southwest Missouri State 95
- Gonzaga (Wash.) 74
- Southwest Missouri State 98
- Stetson 71
- Stetson (Fla.) 75
- State College of Iowa 57
- Southwest Missouri State 78
BOTTOM TIER
- Nebraska Wesleyan 74
- Nebraska Wesleyan 83
- Arnold (Conn.) 62
- Nebraska Wesleyan 83
- Arizona State-Tempe 71
- Arizona State-Tempe 81
- East Tennessee State 79
- Southwest Missouri State 84
- Indiana State 78
- Pasadena (Calif.) 107
- Ricks (Idaho) 72
- Pasadena 93
- Findlay 96
- Findlay (Ohio) 80
- Adams State (Colo.) 63
- Findlay 70
BOTTOM TIER
- Indiana State 106
- Arkansas Tech 85
- East Carolina (N.C.) 81
- Arkansas Tech 81
- Indiana State 100
- Midwestern (Texas) 76
- Indiana State 100

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.

NAIA Third Place Game
March
   
- East Texas State 71
- Indiana State 74
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References
  1. "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  2. NAIA Championship History Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
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