1950 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
| 1950 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 32 |
| Finals Site |
Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri |
| Champions |
Indiana State (1st title, 3rd title game, 4th Final Four) |
| Runner-Up |
East Central (Okla.) (1st title game, 1st Final Four) |
| Semifinalists |
Central Methodist (Mo.) (1st Final Four) Tampa (Fla.) (1st Final Four) |
| Chuck Taylor MVP |
Clemens "Lenny" Rzeszewski (Indiana State) |
The 1950 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 13th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game featured Indiana State University and East Central University (Okla.). It was the first time these two teams had met in the tournament history. The Sycamores defeated the Tigers 61-57.
This would be Indiana State's highest finish in their 12 career appearances in the NAIA tournament. Winning the championship puts them in a unique group to place 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Also Indiana State finally gets a win after 2 times as runner-up. Uniquely, Indiana State has finished as the National Runner-up in the NAIA (1946 and 1948), the NCAA Division I (1979) and the NCAA Division II (1968) tournaments.
Many of the records set by the 1950 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:
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.
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