1951 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
| 1951 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 32 |
| Finals Site |
Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri |
| Champions |
Hamline (Minn.) (3rd title, 3rd title game, 5th Final Four) |
| Runner-Up |
Millikin (Ill.) (1st title game, 1st Final Four) |
| Semifinalists |
Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) (1st Final Four) Regis (Colo.) (2nd Final Four) |
| Chuck Taylor MVP |
Scotty Steagall (Millikin (Ill.)) |
The 1951 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 14th Annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game featured Hamline University (Minn.) and Millikin University (Ill.). It was the first meeting between these two schools in tournament history. The Pipers of Hamline defeated the Big Blue of Millikin 69 to 61. The 1951 Tournament would be Hamline's 5th trip to the NAIA Final Four, and second tournament win, it was also Millikin's only trip to championship game, NAIA Final Four, and first of eventually four tournament berths. The other teams that rounded out the semifinals were Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) and Regis University (Colo.). The Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets defeated the Regis Rangers 82 to 78.
Hamline's win put them on the leader board for most tournament champions with 3. A record that would last until Tennessee State University would win in consecutive years. (1957, 1958, 1959.) Three Championships would be a tournament record until 1996 when Oklahoma City University won its 4th Championship Title.
Many of the records set by the 1951 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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