1961 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1961 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 24th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1] The championship game featured the 13th seeded Grambling and the third seeded Georgetown. For the first time since seeding, in 1958, the third place game featured the first and second seeds, Northern Michigan, and Westminster.

1961 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Teams	32
Champions	Grambling (La.) (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Fab Four)
Runner-Up	Georgetown (Ky.) (1st title game, 2nd Fab Four)
Semifinalists	Northern Michigan Westminster (Pa.)
Coach of the Year	Rex Pyles (Alderson-Broaddus (W.Va.))
Chuck Taylor MVP	Charles Hardnett (Grambling (La.))
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award	Dick Vories (Georgetown (Ky.))

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1961 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
• All-time leading scorer; first appearance: Willis Reed, 16th Grambling (La.) (1961,63,64), 12 games 108 field goals 39 free throws 265 total points, 22.8 average per
• All-time leading scorer; second 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.[2]

1961 NAIA bracket

	First Round					Second Round					Elite Eight					NAIA National Semifinals					NAIA National Championship
	1	Westminster (Pa.)	68
	-	Arkansas State Teachers	60
						1	Westminster (Pa.)	85
						16	Newberry	73
	-	Simpson (Iowa)	58
	16	Newberry (S.C.)	64
											1	Westminster (Pa.)	35
	TOP TIER
											9	Winston-Salem State	33
	9	Winston-Salem State (N.C.)	95
	-	Westminster (Utah)	70
						9	Winston-Salem State	86
						-	West Virginia State	76
	-	West Virginia State	90
	8	Whitworth (Wash.)	89
																1	Westminster (Pa.)	44
																13	Grambling State	45
	5	Anderson (Ind.)	85
	-	St. Bernard (Ala.)	77
						5	Anderson	86
						12	Emporia State	81*
	-	Northern State (S.D.)	72
	12	Emporia State (Kan.)	77
											5	Anderson	54
	TOP TIER
											13	Grambling State	62
	13	Grambling State (La.)	107
	-	Linfield (Ore.)	85
						13	Grambling State	80
						-	Peru State	60
	-	Peru State (Neb.)	72
	4	Oglethorpe (Ga.)	65
																					13	Grambling State	95
																					3	Georgetown	75
	3	Georgetown (Ky.)	88
	-	Western Montana	76
						3	Georgetown	59
						14	Redlands	57
	-	Savannah State (Ga.)	80
	14	Redlands (Calif.)	89
											3	Georgetown	84
	BOTTOM TIER
											7	Central State (Okla.)	83
	-	Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.)	63
	10	Illinois Wesleyan	79
						10	Illinois Wesleyan	62
						7	Central State (Okla.)	84
	7	Central State (Okla.)	80
	-	St. Norbert (Wis.)	73
																3	Georgetown	101
																2	Northern Michigan	67
	-	East Texas Baptist	70
	6	Steubenville (Ohio)	68
						-	East Texas Baptist	59
						11	Southwest Texas State	61
	11	Southwest Texas State	70
	-	Central Connecticut State	59
											11	Southwest Texas State	75
	BOTTOM TIER
											2	Northern Michigan	80
	15	Maryland State	74
	-	Missouri Valley	89
						-	Missouri Valley	63
						2	Northern Michigan	79
	-	Carson-Newman (Tenn.)	60
	2	Northern Michigan	69

•  * denotes overtime.

3rd place game

The third place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinalist to determine third and fourth places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

	NAIA Third Place Game
	1	Westminster (Pa.)	84
	2	Northern Michigan	101

References

1. "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
2. NAIA Championship History Archived 2009-05-05 at WebCite