1969 NAIA basketball tournament

1969 NAIA men's basketball tournament

Season	1968–69
Teams	32
Finals site	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Champions	Eastern New Mexico (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Runner-up	Maryland State (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Central Washington (1st Final Four) Elizabeth City (1st Final Four)
Coach of the year	Joe Retton (Fairmont State (W.Va.))
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award	Larry Vanzant (Eastern New Mexico)
MVP	Jake Ford (Maryland State)
Top scorer	Jake Ford (Maryland State) (156 points)
NAIA men's basketball tournament «1968 1970»

The 1969 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 32nd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This is the first tournament since 1965 tournament to feature four new teams to the NAIA Semifinals. (It would be the 5th time since 1937 this has happened; previous years were the inaugural year 1937, 1945, 1947, 1965.) This would not happen again until 2001.

Awards and honors

• Leading scorer: Jake Ford, Maryland State; 5 games, 52 field goals, 52 free throws, 156 total points (31.2 average points per game)
• Leading rebounder: Bruce Sanderson, Central Washington; 5 games, 65 total rebounds (13.0 average rebounds per game)
• Player of the Year: est. 1994
• Most tournament appearances: Georgetown (Ky.), 8th of 28, appearances to the NAIA Tournament

1969 NAIA bracket

	First round					Second round					Elite Eight					NAIA national semifinals					NAIA national championship
	1	Fairmont State (W.Va.)	93
	-	Indiana Central	75
						1	Fairmont State	72
						16	Washburn	74
	-	Western Montana	68
	16	Washburn (Kan.)	90
											16	Washburn	88
	TOP TIER
											9	Elizabeth City	90
	9	Elizabeth City (N.C.)	86
	-	Valdosta State (Ga.)	78
						9	Elizabeth City	88
						8	Southwestern Oklahoma	81
	-	Yankton (S.D.)	91
	8	Southwestern Oklahoma State	100
																9	Elizabeth City	72
																12	Eastern New Mexico	75
	5	Eastern Michigan	87
	-	Georgetown (Ky.)	85
						5	Eastern Michigan	69
						12	Eastern New Mexico	77
	-	Millikin (Ill.)	71
	12	Eastern New Mexico	89
											12	Eastern New Mexico	77
	TOP TIER
											-	High Point	73
	13	Whittier (Calif.)	77
	-	Corpus Christi (Tex.)	66
						13	Whittier	82
						4	High Point	100
	-	Missouri-St. Louis	90
	4	High Point (N.C.)	102
																					12	Eastern New Mexico	99
																					-	Maryland State	76
	3	Central State (Ohio)	59
	-	Monmouth (N.J.)	63
							Monmouth	115
						-	Asheville-Biltmore	81
	-	Asheville-Biltmore (N.C.)	86
	14	Grambling State (La.)	74
												Monmouth	94
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	Maryland State	99
	10	Linfield (Ore.)	80
	-	Stout State (Wis.)	113
						-	Wisconsin-Stout	83
						-	Maryland State	85
	-	Maryland State	99
	7	Wartburg (Iowa)	90
																-	Maryland State	93
																15	Central Washington	87
	6	Gannon (Pa.)	81
	-	Jackson State (Miss.)	58
						6	Gannon	78
						11	Henderson State	80
	-	St. John's (Minn.)	76
	11	Henderson State (Ark.)	78
											11	Henderson State	64
	BOTTOM TIER
											15	Central Washington	96
	15	Central Washington State	92
	-	New Haven (Conn.)	82
						15	Central Washington	96
						2	Howard Payne	74
	-	Wayne State (Neb.)	70
	2	Howard Payne (Tex.)	94

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.

	NAIA third-place game
	9	Elizabeth City	82
	15	Central Washington	96

See also

• 1969 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
• 1969 NCAA College Division basketball tournament