The 1953 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. The 16th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game would feature

Southwest Missouri State Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...

, now Missouri State University, and Hamline (10th appearance in tournament). The Bears were coached by

Bob Vanatta Bob Vanatta (July 7, 1918 – October 22, 2016) was an American basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He was the head basketball coach for Central Methodist, Missouri State University, Army, Bradley, Memphis State, Missouri, a ...

. 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, 79–71. It was the first time since

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

and

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

, 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 The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri, United States. In 2024, enrollment was 13,734 students from 48 states and 52 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, inclu ...

.) Playing for third place were

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

and East Texas State, 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's first, and only, second place title as well as Indiana State's first, and only, third place title, making them the first two schools to win, outright, first, second, third, and fourth 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 Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

, now Point Loma Nazarene). 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.NAIA Championship History

Bracket

References

{{NAIA men's basketball tournament NAIA men's basketball championship

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

NAIA men's basketball tournament NAIA men's basketball tournament

Awards and honors

Bracket

See also

References