1961 NAIA basketball tournament

The 1961 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 24th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1] The championship game featured the 13th seeded Grambling and the third seeded Georgetown. For the first time since seeding, in 1958, the third-place game featured the first and second seeds, Northern Michigan, and Westminster.

1961 (1961) NAIA men's basketball tournament
Teams32
Finals siteMunicipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
ChampionsGrambling Tigers (1st title, 1st title game,
1st Fab Four)
Runner-upGeorgetown Tigers (1st title game,
2nd Fab Four)
Semifinalists
Coach of the yearRex Pyles (Alderson Broaddus)
Charles Stevenson
Hustle Award
Dick Vories (Georgetown (KY))
Chuck Taylor MVPCharles Hardnett (Grambling)
NAIA men's tournaments
«1960 1962»

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1961 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:

  • Leading scorer: est. 1963
  • Leading rebounder: est. 1963
  • Player of the Year: est. 1994
  • All-time leading scorer; first appearance: Willis Reed, 16th Grambling (1961,63,64), 12 games 108 field goals 39 free throws 265 total points, 22.8 average per
  • All-time leading scorer; second appearance: Hershell West, 15th Grambling (1960,61,63), 13 games, 116 field goals, 37 free throws, 269 total points, 20.7 average per game.[2]

1961 NAIA bracket
First round Second round Elite Eight NAIA national semifinals NAIA national championship
               
1 Westminster (PA) 68
- Arkansas State Teachers 60
1 Westminster (PA) 85
16 Newberry 73
- Simpson 58
16 Newberry 64
1 Westminster (PA) 35
TOP TIER
9 Winston-Salem State 33
9 Winston-Salem State 95
- Westminster (UT) 70
9 Winston-Salem State 86
- West Virginia State 76
- West Virginia State 90
8 Whitworth 89
1 Westminster (PA) 44
13 Grambling 45
5 Anderson (IN) 85
- St. Bernard 77
5 Anderson (IN) 86
12 Emporia State 81*
- Northern State 72
12 Emporia State 77
5 Anderson (IN) 54
TOP TIER
13 Grambling 62
13 Grambling 107
- Linfield 85
13 Grambling 80
- Peru State 60
- Peru State 72
4 Oglethorpe 65
13 Grambling 95
3 Georgetown (KY) 75
3 Georgetown (KY) 88
- Western Montana 76
3 Georgetown (KY) 59
14 Redlands 57
- Savannah State 80
14 Redlands 89
3 Georgetown (KY) 84
BOTTOM TIER
7 Central State (OK) 83
- Gustavus Adolphus 63
10 Illinois Wesleyan 79
10 Illinois Wesleyan 62
7 Central State (OK) 84
7 Central State (OK) 80
- St. Norbert 73
3 Georgetown (KY) 101
2 Northern Michigan 67
- East Texas Baptist 70
6 Steubenville 68
- East Texas Baptist 59
11 Southwest Texas State 61
11 Southwest Texas State 70
- Central Connecticut State 59
11 Southwest Texas State 75
BOTTOM TIER
2 Northern Michigan 80
15 Maryland State 74
- Missouri Valley 89
- Missouri Valley 63
2 Northern Michigan 79
- Carson–Newman 60
2 Northern Michigan 69
  •  * denotes overtime.

Third-place game

The third-place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinalist to determine third and fourth places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

NAIA third-place game
   
1 Westminster (PA) 84
2 Northern Michigan 101

See also

References
  1. "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  2. NAIA Championship History Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine
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