1960 NAIA basketball tournament

1960 NAIA men's basketball tournament
Season1959–60
Teams32
Finals siteMunicipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
ChampionsSouthwest Texas State (1st title, 1st title game,
3rd Final Four)
Runner-upWestminster (Pa.) (1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Semifinalists
Coach of the yearMilt Jowers (Southwest Texas State)
Charles Stevenson
Hustle Award
Chuckie Davis (Westminster (Pa.))
MVPCharles Sharp (Southwest Texas State)
NAIA men's basketball tournament
«1959 1961»

The 1960 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 23rd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1]

The pivotal game in this year's tournament was in the semifinals round when #4 Westminster College knocked off the three time defending national champions #1 Tennessee State University. This ended the 18 tournament win streak. As of 2017, it is still the tournament's longest win streak. Tennessee State would then play in the 3rd-place game where they easily defeated William Jewell College 100-65. (William Jewell's highest finish in the DI tournament, as of 2010).

Westminster went to the championship game and was defeated by Southwest Texas State 44-66. The Bobcats finish with their first national championship, after being in the NAIA Final Four two previous times, 1952, 1959, both finishing 3rd.

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1960 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
  • Most consecutive tournament victories; record ends: 18 overall; 3 in 1960, Tennessee State, 1957-58-59-60
  • Top single-game performances: Charles Sharp, 16th, Southwest Texas State vs. Wisconsin-Oshkosh, In that game Sharp scored 15 field goals and 14 free throws, totaling 44 points.
  • All-time leading scorer; first appearance: Hershell West, 15th Grambling (La.) (1960,61,63), 13 games, 116 field goals, 37 free throws, 269 total points, 20.7 average per game.
  • All-time leading scorer; final appearance: Charles Sharp, 5th Southwest Texas State (1957,59,60) 12 games, 118 field goals, 69 free throws, 305 total points, 25.4 average per game.[2]

1960 NAIA bracket

First round Second round Elite Eight NAIA national semifinals NAIA national championship
               
1 Tennessee State 102
- Midwestern (Texas) 83
1 Tennessee State 84
16 West Virginia Wesleyan 79
- Valley City State (N.D.) 84
16 West Virginia Wesleyan 109
1 Tennessee State 75
TOP TIER
8 Wofford 60
9 Pittsburg State (Kan.) 61
- Findlay (Ohio) 76
- Findlay 73
8 Wofford 80
- Oakland City (Ind.) 85*
8 Wofford (S.C.) 86
1 Tennessee State 38
4 Westminster 39
5 Hamline (Minn.) 88
- Florence State (Ala.) 83**
5 Hamline 89
- Arkansas A&M 76
- Arkansas A&M 64
12 Western Washington State 53
- Hamline 59
TOP TIER
4 Westminster 62
13 Whittier (Calif.) 77
- Ferris Institute (Mich.) 71
13 Whittier 50
4 Westminster 59
- Maryland State 63
4 Westminster (Pa.) 64
4 Westminster 44
2 Southwest Texas State 66
3 Southern Illinois 71
- Oklahoma Baptist 75
- Oklahoma Baptist 67
- New Mexico Highlands 77
- New Mexico Highlands 96
14 Nebraska Wesleyan 90
- New Mexico Highlands 62
BOTTOM TIER
- William Jewell 67
7 Stetson (Fla.) 66
- William Jewell (Mo.) 68
- William Jewell 73
- Parsons 71
- Parsons (Iowa) 67
10 Christian Brothers (Tenn.) 65
- William Jewell 44
2 Southwest Texas State 82
11 Villa Madonna (Ky.) 94
- College of Idaho 70
11 Villa Madonna 97
6 Grambling State 113
- Central Connecticut State 68
6 Grambling State (La.) 92
6 Grambling State 68
BOTTOM TIER
2 Southwest Texas State 76
15 Willamette (Ore.) 71
- Savannah State (Ga.) 85
- Savannah State 88
2 Southwest Texas State 101
- Oshkosh State (Wis.) 69
2 Southwest Texas State 93
  •  * denotes each overtime.

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
   
1 Tennessee State 100
- William Jewell 65

See also

References

  1. ^ "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  2. ^ "NAIA Championship History archived via WebCite" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 23, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2009.