1961 NAIA basketball tournament

College basketball tournament

1961 NAIA men's basketball tournamentSeason| 1960-61

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Teams| 32
Finals site| Municipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
Champions| Grambling Tigers (1st title, 1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Runner-up| Georgetown Tigers (1st title game,
2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists|

* Northern Michigan Wildcats (1st Final Four)
* Westminster Titans (2nd Final Four)

Coach of the year| Rex Pyles (Alderson Broaddus)

Charles Stevenson
Hustle Award

| Dick Vories (Georgetown (KY))
MVP| Charles Hardnett (Grambling)
| NAIA men's basketball tournament

«1960 | 1962»

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.

## Awards and honors[edit]

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[edit]

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

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|  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| 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[edit]

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 |

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|  |  |  |
| 1 | Westminster (PA) | 84 |
| 2 | Northern Michigan | 101 |

## See also[edit]

* 1961 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
* 1961 NCAA College Division basketball tournament

## References[edit]

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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NAIA men's basketball championship

Chuck Taylor Tournament MVPs

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The NAIA canceled the 2020 tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic and removed divisional classifications starting in 2020–21.
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