1939 NAIA basketball tournament
The 1939 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 3rd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This was also the year the NCAA basketball tournament was started.
| Teams | 32 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals site | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri | ||||
| Champions | Southwestern (KS) (1st title, 1st title game, 2nd Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | San Diego State (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
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| MVP | Edgar Hinshaw (Southwestern (Kan.)) | ||||
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This tournament also featured the lowest-scoring game in tournament history between Loras College (Iowa) and Central Missouri State University, the two-time champions. Loras scored a total of 16 points, a tournament low as well, Central Missouri State won the game with a total score of 20. The total combined score of the game was 36, resulting in the all-time lowest scoring game in tournament history.
The championship game featured Southwestern (KS) defeat San Diego State by a score of 32-31. It would be the closest final score until the 1981 tournament which ended in overtime with a score of 86-85. (1939, 1981, and 2016 are the only three years a team has won by one point, to date.)
This year the NAIA awarded the first Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player Award. The first award went to Edgar Hinshaw of Southwestern College