1970 NAIA basketball tournament

The 1970 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 33rd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.^[1]

1970 NAIA men's basketball tournament

Season	1969–70
Teams	32
Finals site	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Champions	Kentucky State (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Runner-up	Central Washington (1st title game, 3rd Final Four)
Semifinalists	Eastern New Mexico (2nd Final Four) Guilford (1st Final Four)
Coach of the year	Dean Nicholson (Central Washington)
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award	David Allen (Central Washington)
MVP	Greg Hyder (Eastern New Mexico)
Top scorer	Travis Grant (Kentucky State) (137 points)
NAIA men's basketball tournament «1969 1971»

Kentucky State would win the first of three straight National Championship titles, becoming the second team to win three in a row, and the third team to win three titles.

The 3rd-place game would go into overtime for the second time in tournament history. The 6th seeded Eastern New Mexico State Greyhounds beat the 8th seeded Guilford Quakers 77-72 in one overtime.

Awards and honors

• Leading scorer: Travis Grant, Kentucky State; 5 games, 57 field goals, 23 free throws, 137 total points (27.4 average points per game)
• Leading rebounder: Elmore Smith, Kentucky State & Greg Hyder, Eastern New Mexico; 5 games, 65 rebounds, (13 average rebounds per game)
• Player of the Year: est. 1994
• Most field goals made; career; 223; Travis Grant, Kentucky State, (1970, 71, 72)
• Most career points; individual: 518, Travis Grant, Kentucky State, (1970, 71, 72)
• All-time leading scorer; first appearance: Travis Grant, 1st (1970, 71, 72) 15 games, 223 field goals, 72 free throws, 518 points (34.5 average points per game)^[2]

1970 NAIA bracket

	First round					Second round					Elite Eight					NAIA national semifinals					NAIA national championship
	1	Stephen F. Austin (TX)	100
	-	South Carolina State	86
						1	Stephen F. Austin	74
						16	Augusta State	71
	-	Monmouth (NJ)	64
	16	Augusta State (GA)	85
											1	Stephen F. Austin	94
	TOP TIER
											-	Guilford	100
	9	Eastern Michigan	108
	-	East Central State (Okla.)	85
						9	Eastern Michigan	85
						8	Guilford	89
	-	Wayne State (Neb.)	73
	8	Guilford (N.C.)	90
																-	Guilford	90
																4	Kentucky State	108
	5	Central State (Ohio)	69
	-	St. Thomas (Minn.)	60
						5	Central State (Ohio)	83
						-	Wiley	77
	-	Wiley (Tex.)	77
	12	Drury (Mo.)	75
											5	Central State (Ohio)	56
	TOP TIER
											4	Kentucky State	66
	13	Eau Claire State (Wis.)	88
	-	Eastern Montana	81
						13	Eau Claire State	65
						4	Kentucky State	73
	-	Illinois Wesleyan	56
	4	Kentucky State	64
																					4	Kentucky State	79
																					3	Central Washington State	71
	3	Central Washington State	77
	-	St. Benedict's (Kan.)	65
						3	Central Washington State	66
						14	Wartburg	58
	-	Northern State (S.D.)	78
	14	Wartburg (Iowa)	91
											3	Central Washington State	72
	BOTTOM TIER
											7	Jackson State	70
	11	Hanover (Ind.)	88
	-	Arkansas Tech	94
						-	Arkansas Tech	81
						6	Eastern New Mexico	84
	-	Whittier (Calif.)	66
	6	Eastern New Mexico	80
																3	Central Washington State	54
																6	Eastern New Mexico	53
	7	Jackson State (Miss.)	89
	-	Campbell (N.C.)	65
						7	Jackson State	90
						10	Northeast Louisiana	83
	-	Linfield (Ore.)	72
	10	Northeast Louisiana	78
											6	Eastern New Mexico	76
	BOTTOM TIER
											2	Maryland State	74*
	15	Morris Harvey (W.Va.)	99
	-	Western New England (Mass.)	76
						15	Morris Harvey	78
						2	Maryland State	88
	-	California State (Pa.)	67
	2	Maryland State	101

•  * 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.

	NAIA third-place game
	-	Guilford	72*
	6	Eastern New Mexico	77

See also

• 1970 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
• 1970 NCAA College Division basketball tournament

References

1. "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved April 19, 2009.
2. NAIA. "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 23, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2009.