1970 NAIA basketball tournament

College basketball tournament

1970 NAIA men's basketball tournamentSeason| 1969-70

|

Teams| 32
Finals site| Municipal Auditorium,
Kansas City, Missouri
Champions| Kentucky State (1st title, 1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Runner-up| Central Washington (1st title game,
3rd Final Four)
Semifinalists|

* Eastern New Mexico (2nd Final Four)
* Guilford (1st Final Four)

Coach of the year| Dean Nicholson (Central Washington)

Charles Stevenson
Hustle Award

| David Allen (Central Washington)
MVP| Greg Hyder (Eastern New Mexico)
Top scorer| Travis Grant (Kentucky State)
(137 points)
| NAIA men's basketball tournament

«1969 | 1971»

The 1970 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 33rd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1]

Kentucky State would win the first of three straight National Championship titles, becoming the second team to win three in a row, and the third team to win three titles.

The 3rd-place game would go into overtime for the second time in tournament history. The 6th seeded Eastern New Mexico State Greyhounds beat the 8th seeded Guilford Quakers 77-72 in one overtime.

## Awards and honors

[edit]

* Leading scorer: Travis Grant, Kentucky State; 5 games, 57 field goals, 23 free throws, 137 total points (27.4 average points per game)
* Leading rebounder: Elmore Smith, Kentucky State & Greg Hyder, Eastern New Mexico; 5 games, 65 rebounds, (13 average rebounds per game)
* Player of the Year: est. 1994
* Most field goals made; career; 223; Travis Grant, Kentucky State, (1970, 71, 72)
* Most career points; individual: 518, Travis Grant, Kentucky State, (1970, 71, 72)
* All-time leading scorer; first appearance: Travis Grant, 1st (1970, 71, 72) 15 games, 223 field goals, 72 free throws, 518 points (34.5 average points per game)[2]

## 1970 NAIA bracket

[edit]

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

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|  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin (TX) | 100 | | | | |
| \- | South Carolina State | 86 |
| | 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 74 |
|  |
| | | 16 | Augusta State | 71 |
| \- | Monmouth (NJ) | 64 |

| 16 | Augusta State (GA) | 85 |
| | 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 94 |
| TOP TIER  |
| | | \- | Guilford | 100 |
| 9 | Eastern Michigan | 108 | |

| \- | East Central State (Okla.) | 85 |
| | 9 | Eastern Michigan | 85 |
|  |
| | | 8 | Guilford | 89 |
| \- | Wayne State (Neb.) | 73 |

| 8 | Guilford (N.C.) | 90 |
| | \- | Guilford | 90 |
|  |
| | | 4 | Kentucky State | 108 |
| 5 | Central State (Ohio) | 69 | | |

| \- | St. Thomas (Minn.) | 60 |
| | 5 | Central State (Ohio) | 83 |
|  |
| | | \- | Wiley | 77 |
| \- | Wiley (Tex.) | 77 |

| 12 | Drury (Mo.) | 75 |
| | 5 | Central State (Ohio) | 56 |
| TOP TIER  |
| | | 4 | Kentucky State | 66 |
| 13 | Eau Claire State (Wis.) | 88 | |

| \- | Eastern Montana | 81 |
| | 13 | Eau Claire State | 65 |
|  |
| | | 4 | Kentucky State | 73 |
| \- | Illinois Wesleyan | 56 |

| 4 | Kentucky State | 64 |
| | 4 | Kentucky State | 79 |
|  |
| | | 3 | Central Washington State | 71 |
| 3 | Central Washington State | 77 | | | |

| \- | St. Benedict's (Kan.) | 65 |
| | 3 | Central Washington State | 66 |
|  |
| | | 14 | Wartburg | 58 |
| \- | Northern State (S.D.) | 78 |

| 14 | Wartburg (Iowa) | 91 |
| | 3 | Central Washington State | 72 |
| BOTTOM TIER  |
| | | 7 | Jackson State | 70 |
| 11 | Hanover (Ind.) | 88 | |

| \- | Arkansas Tech | 94 |
| | \- | Arkansas Tech | 81 |
|  |
| | | 6 | Eastern New Mexico | 84 |
| \- | Whittier (Calif.) | 66 |

| 6 | Eastern New Mexico | 80 |
| | 3 | Central Washington State | 54 |
|  |
| | | 6 | Eastern New Mexico | 53 |
| 7 | Jackson State (Miss.) | 89 | | |

| \- | Campbell (N.C.) | 65 |
| | 7 | Jackson State | 90 |
|  |
| | | 10 | Northeast Louisiana | 83 |
| \- | Linfield (Ore.) | 72 |

| 10 | Northeast Louisiana | 78 |
| | 6 | Eastern New Mexico | 76 |
| BOTTOM TIER  |
| | | 2 | Maryland State | 74* |
| 15 | Morris Harvey (W.Va.) | 99 | |

| \- | Western New England (Mass.) | 76 |
| | 15 | Morris Harvey | 78 |
|  |
| | | 2 | Maryland State | 88 |
| \- | California State (Pa.) | 67 |

| 2 | Maryland State | 101 |

* * denotes overtime.

### Third-place game

[edit]

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 |

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|  |  |  |
| \- | Guilford | 72* |
| 6 | Eastern New Mexico | 77 |

## See also

[edit]

* 1970 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
* 1970 NCAA College Division basketball tournament

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved April 19, 2009.
2. ^ NAIA. "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 23, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2009.

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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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