1960 NAIA basketball tournament
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.
| Season | 1959–60 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 32 | ||||
| Finals site | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri | ||||
| Champions | Southwest Texas State (1st title, 1st title game, 3rd Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Westminster (Pa.) (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
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| Coach of the year | Milt Jowers (Southwest Texas State) | ||||
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award | Chuckie Davis (Westminster (Pa.)) | ||||
| MVP | Charles Sharp (Southwest Texas State) | ||||
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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.