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1981 NAIA men's basketball tournament

College basketball tournament

Summary

College basketball tournament

FieldValue
TypeNAIA
Year1981
ImageSize150px
Caption1981 NAIA Men's National Basketball Tournament
Teams32
FinalFourArenaKemper Arena
FinalFourCityKansas City, Missouri
ChampionsBethany Nazarene (Okla.)
TitleCount1st
ChampGameCount1st
ChampFFCount1st
RunnerUpAlabama – Huntsville
GameCount1st
RunnerFFCount1st
Semifinal1Wisconsin–Eau Claire
FinalFourCount13rd
Semifinal2Hillsdale (Mich.)
FinalFourCount21st
COTYKen Anderson
COTYSchoolWisconsin–Eau Claire
MVPGeorge Torres
MVPTeamBethany Nazarene
HustleJames Mundie
HustleSchoolAlabama-Huntsville
Attendanceunknown
TopScorerTodd Thurman
TopScorerTeamBethany Nazarene
TopScorer2George Torres
TopScorer2TeamBethany Nazarene
Points104

The 1981 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. The 44th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game featured Bethany Nazarene College and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. It was the first time that the championship game went into overtime. Bethany Nazarene edged out Alabama-Huntsville with the final score of 86-85 (OT). 1981 was also the first year the NAIA held a women's national basketball championship tournament. For the second time since 1963, the year the award was established, there was a tie for the leading scorer. Todd Thurman and George Torres both scored 104 over the course of the 1981 tournament. There have been no ties since. And for the first time since the Coach of the Year Award was established, Ken Anderson, won Coach of the Year for the second time. No other coach has won the award twice.

Awards and honors

  • Leading scorers; tie: Todd Thurman, Bethany Nazarene (Okla.); 5 games, 42 field goals, 20 free throws, totaling 104 points (averaging 20.8 points per game); George Torres, Bethany Nazarene (Okla.); 5 games, 33 field goals, 38 free throws, totaling 104 points (averaging 20.8 points per game)
  • Leading rebounder: Ricky Knight, Alabama-Huntsville. In 5 games, 62 total rebounds (averaging 12.4 rebounds per game)
  • Player of the Year: est. 1994
  • All-time leading scorer; second appearance: Tony Carr 13th, Wisconsin–Eau Claire (1979,80,81,82); 15 games, 114 field goals, 45 free throws, totaling 273 points (18.2 average points per game).

1981 NAIA bracket

| RD2-group1=**TOP TIER ** | RD2-group2=**TOP TIER ** | RD2-group3=**BOTTOM TIER ** | RD2-group4=**BOTTOM TIER **

| RD1-seed01=1 | RD1-team01=Briar Cliff (Iowa) | RD1-score01=76 | RD1-seed02=- | RD1-team02=Fairmont State (W. Virginia) | RD1-score02=67

| RD1-seed03=- | RD1-team03=Dominican (N.Y.) | RD1-score03=64 | RD1-seed04=16 | RD1-team04=Hillsdale (Mich.) | RD1-score04=70

| RD1-seed05=9 | RD1-team05=Western New Mexico | RD1-score05=55 | RD1-seed06=- | RD1-team06=Midwestern State (Texas) | RD1-score06=56

| RD1-seed07=- | RD1-team07=Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) | RD1-score07=71 | RD1-seed08=8 | RD1-team08=Rockhurst (Mo.) | RD1-score08=68

| RD1-seed09=5 | RD1-team09=Alabama-Huntsville | RD1-score09=105 | RD1-seed10=- | RD1-team10=Norfolk State (Virginia) | RD1-score10=75

| RD1-seed11=- | RD1-team11=Xavier (La.) | RD1-score11=66 | RD1-seed12=12 | RD1-team12=Oregon College | RD1-score12=98

| RD1-seed13=13 | RD1-team13=Henderson State (Ark.) | RD1-score13=50 | RD1-seed14=- | RD1-team14=South Carolina-Spartanburg | RD1-score14=61

| RD1-seed15=- | RD1-team15=Hanover (Ind.) | RD1-score15=66 | RD1-seed16=4 | RD1-team16=Fort Hays State (Kan.) | RD1-score16=64

| RD1-seed17=3 | RD1-team17=Augsburg (Minn.) | RD1-score17=56 | RD1-seed18=- | RD1-team18=Drury (Mo.) | RD1-score18=54

| RD1-seed19=- | RD1-team19=Campbellsville (Ky.) | RD1-score19=96 | RD1-seed20=14 | RD1-team20=Kearney State (Neb.) | RD1-score20=108

| RD1-seed21=11 | RD1-team21=Southern Tech (Ga.) | RD1-score21=82 | RD1-seed22=- | RD1-team22=Franklin Pierce (N.H.) | RD1-score22=75

| RD1-seed23=- | RD1-team23=Chicago State (Ill.) | RD1-score23=63 | RD1-seed24=6 | RD1-team24=Bethany Nazarene (Okla.) | RD1-score24=69

| RD1-seed25=7 | RD1-team25=Huron (S.D.) | RD1-score25=59 | RD1-seed26=- | RD1-team26=Gardner–Webb (N. C.) | RD1-score26=52

| RD1-seed27=- | RD1-team27=Central Washington | RD1-score27=42 | RD1-seed28=10 | RD1-team28=Biola (California) | RD1-score28=57

| RD1-seed29=15 | RD1-team29=Cedarville (Ohio) | RD1-score29=57 | RD1-seed30=- | RD1-team30=Waynesburg (Pa.) | RD1-score30=60

| RD1-seed31=- | RD1-team31=St. Mary's (Texas) | RD1-score31=59 | RD1-seed32=2 | RD1-team32=Wisconsin–Eau Claire | RD1-score32=61

| RD2-seed01=1 | RD2-team01=Briar Cliff | RD2-score01=46 | RD2-seed02=16 | RD2-team02=Hillsdale | RD2-score02=53

| RD2-seed03=- | RD2-team03=Midwestern State | RD2-score03=104 | RD2-seed04=- | RD2-team04=Lincoln Memorial | RD2-score04=87

| RD2-seed05=5 | RD2-team05=Alabama-Huntsville | RD2-score05=67 | RD2-seed06=12 | RD2-team06=Oregon College | RD2-score06=62

| RD2-seed07=- | RD2-team07=South Carolina-Spartanburg | RD2-score07=60 | RD2-seed08=- | RD2-team08=Hanover | RD2-score08=72

| RD2-seed09=3 | RD2-team09=Augsburg | RD2-score09=81 | RD2-seed10=14 | RD2-team10=Kearney State | RD2-score10=77

| RD2-seed11=- | RD2-team11=Southern Tech | RD2-score11=58 | RD2-seed12=6 | RD2-team12=Bethany Nazarene | RD2-score12=88

| RD2-seed13=7 | RD2-team13=Huron | RD2-score13=52 | RD2-seed14=10 | RD2-team14=Biola | RD2-score14=50

| RD2-seed15=- | RD2-team15=Waynesburg | RD2-score15=21 | RD2-seed16=2 | RD2-team16=Wisconsin–Eau Claire | RD2-score16=22

| RD3-seed01=16 | RD3-team01=Hillsdale | RD3-score01=65 | RD3-seed02=- | RD3-team02=Midwestern State | RD3-score02=64

| RD3-seed03=5 | RD3-team03=Alabama-Huntsville | RD3-score03=94 | RD3-seed04=- | RD3-team04=Hanover | RD3-score04=74

| RD3-seed05=3 | RD3-team05=Augsburg | RD3-score05=69 | RD3-seed06=6 | RD3-team06=Bethany Nazarene | RD3-score06=84

| RD3-seed07=7 | RD3-team07=Huron | RD3-score07=29 | RD3-seed08=2 | RD3-team08=Wisconsin–Eau Claire | RD3-score08=35

| RD4-seed01=16 | RD4-team01=Hillsdale | RD4-score01=60 | RD4-seed02=5 | RD4-team02=Alabama-Huntsville | RD4-score02=65

| RD4-seed03=6 | RD4-team03=Bethany Nazarene | RD4-score03=62 | RD4-seed04=2 | RD4-team04=Wisconsin–Eau Claire | RD4-score04=54

| RD5-seed01=5 | RD5-team01=Alabama-Huntsville | RD5-score01=85* | RD5-seed02=6 | RD5-team02=Bethany Nazarene | RD5-score02=86

    • denotes overtime.

Third-place game

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.

| RD1-seed1=16 | RD1-team1=Hillsdale | RD1-score1=60 | RD1-seed2=2 | RD1-team2=Wisconsin–Eau Claire | RD1-score2=90

References

References

  1. "NAIA.org".
  2. [http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/naia/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/MBBDIChampionshipHistory1223.pdf NAIA Championship History] {{webarchive. link. (2011-05-23)
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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