National Catholic Invitational Tournament

The National Catholic Invitational Tournament (NCIT) was a men's college basketball tournament played in the late 1940s and early 1950s. At the time the NCIT was one of the three major college basketball postseason tournaments that included the NCAA, NIT, and NCIT.^[1] In 1949 the NCAA and NIT tournaments featured only eight invites each and the scarcity of post season opportunities allowed the NCIT to provide an option for quality basketball programs without conference affiliations to participate in post season play. Only Catholic schools were invited to participate. In the inaugural year sixteen Catholic schools were invited to participate, but the tournament reduced the field to eight teams in 1950.

Champions

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Final score	Location
1949	Regis	St. Francis (NY)	51-47	Denver, CO
1950	Siena	St. Francis (NY)	57-50	Albany, NY
1951	St. Francis (NY)	Seattle	93-79	Albany, NY
1952	Marquette	St. Francis (PA)	76-64	Troy, NY

1949 National Catholic Invitation Tournament

Regis College captured the inaugural NCIT championship in Denver by defeating St. Francis 51-47.^[2] The Rangers were one of four seeded teams that included Gonzaga, St. Thomas and Siena. Regis would advance to the finals to play St. Francis of Brooklyn. The Terriers were invited to participate in the tournament featured star Tommy Gallagher.^[3][4][5] Gallagher was awarded a trophy as the Tournaments outstanding player.^[6] Regis placed three players on the all tournament team.^[7]

	First Round March 23					Quarterfinals March 24					Semifinals March 25					Finals March 26
		St. Francis (NY)	61
		St. Norbert's	53				St. Francis (NY)	59
	3	St. Thomas	69			3	St. Thomas	42
		St. Edward's	32									St. Francis (NY)	69
		St. Benedict's	60									St. Benedict's	40
		Siena	46				St. Benedict's	59
		Dayton	53				Dayton	55
		Loras	52														St. Francis (NY)	47
	2	Regis	63													2	Regis	51
		Iona	51			2	Regis	66
		Saint Francis (PA)	57				Saint Francis (PA)	49
		Mount St. Mary's	51								2	Regis	67			Third place
		Loyola (MD)	75									Loyola (MD)	60
		St. Ambrose	58				Loyola (MD)	53									Loyola (MD)	71
	4	Gonzaga	49			4	Gonzaga	51									St. Benedict's	70
		St. Bonaventure	40

1950 National Catholic Invitation Tournament

Originally the tournament was to take place at Loyola College in Baltimore, MD from March 15 to March 22 and feature sixteen teams. Yet, because of segregation and protest from St. Francis College about the unequal treatment of its black players, the tournament was moved to Albany, NY and featured eight teams.^[8][9] Creighton was favored to win the tournament, although they had a 13-13 record going into the tournament the Bluejays had the toughest schedule of the eight competing teams.^[10]

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	St. Francis (NY)	67
	Creighton	66
					St. Francis (NY)	62
					Iona	61
	Iona	71
	Saint Michael's	55
									St. Francis (NY)	50
									Siena	57
	Loras	59
	Saint Francis (PA)	58
					Siena	75
					Loras	55			Third place
	Siena	86
	Providence	49
									Loras	55
									Iona	52

1951 National Catholic Invitation Tournament

The tournament took place at the Albany Armory in Albany, NY from March 13 to March 17. St. Francis of Brooklyn appeared in the title game for the third straight year, but this time came away with the championship banner. Ray Rudzinski led the Terriers with 26 points while Vernon Stokes scored 22 and Roy Reardon scored 21.

In January 1951, the National Catholic Intercollegiate Athletic Association, sponsor and organizer of the tournament, announced the 1951 NCIT would feature a 12-team field from all parts of the nation. Automatic bids were to be awarded to the champions two conferences: The Eastern Catholic Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (ECIAC), which included Siena, Seton Hall, Iona, Le Moyne, St. Francis (NY), Saint Francis (PA), Loyola Maryland, Saint Peter's and King's and the Midlands Conference (St. Ambrose University, Saint Joseph's (IN), Loras and St. Norbert). In addition, one bid was reserved for either Portland, Gonzaga or Seattle to represent the Pacific Northwest.^[11] Seton Hall won the ECIAC championship but declined the automatic bid to the NCIT, since they were invited to the NIT.^[12] Five ECIAC teams participated in the tournament. Loras won the Midlands Conference championship^[13] and accepted the automatic bid.

Four teams were seeded and received a bye to the quarterfinals.^[14]

	First round[15][16]					Quarter-finals[17][18][19]					Semi-finals[20]					Final[21]
						4	Loras	63
	St. Francis (NY)		74				St. Francis (NY)	65
	Spring Hill		65								St. Francis (NY)		84
											Le Moyne		66
						2	Siena	53
	Le Moyne		95				Le Moyne	57
	Saint Michael's		57														St. Francis (NY)	93
																3	Seattle	79
						3	Seattle	69
	Iona		54				Iona	67
	St. Mary's (MN)		52								3	Seattle	102			Third place
												Mount St. Mary's	85
						1	Saint Francis (PA)	74								Le Moyne		63
	Mount St. Mary's		91				Mount St. Mary's	83								Mount St. Mary's		61
	St. Norbert		59

1952 National Catholic Invitation Tournament

The tournament took place at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Field House in Troy, New York, from March 15 to March 22.^[22] Marquette University, under rookie head coach Tex Winter, defeated St. Francis (PA) to capture their first national tournament championship. The Warriors were seeded second and defeated Iona, St. Francis of Brooklyn before capturing the title. Coach Winter was the youngest basketball coach in college at the time. The winning Warriors were honored in 2002 for the 50th anniversary of the accomplishment.^[23]

	First round[24][25]					Quarter-finals[26]					Semi-finals[27]					Final[28]
						(1 seed) Siena		79
	Scranton		85			Scranton		57
	Saint Mary's (MN)		78								Saint Francis (PA)		54
											Siena		51
						(3 seed) Saint Joseph's		56
	Saint Francis (PA)		66			Saint Francis (PA)		65
	Loyola (MD)		52													Marquette		76
																Saint Francis (PA)		64
						(2 seed) Marquette		66
	Iona		68			Iona		59
	Gannon (PA)		52								Marquette		79			Third place
											St. Francis (NY)		57
						(4 seed) St. Francis (NY)		75								Siena		64
	Le Moyne		67			Le Moyne		61								St. Francis (NY)		50
	Providence		63

References

1. March 9, Chuck Miller on; AM, 2010 at 6:50 (2010-03-09). "Siena's First National Basketball Championship". Chuck Miller. Retrieved 2020-05-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. "Brown and Gold Vol 33". Regis Archives.
3. "Terrier Five in Receipt of NCIT Hoop Bid". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
4. "St. Francis O.K.'s NCIT Tourney Bid". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
5. "St. Francis Five Bids for U.S. Catholic Crown". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
6. "Terrier Five Given Reception by Students". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
7. Seaman, Jack. "All Americans". No. 33. Brown and Gold.
8. "NEGRO BAN CAUSES SHIFT". New York Times. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
9. Miller, Chuck (March 9, 2010). "Siena's First National Basketball Championship". Albany, New York: Times Union. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
10. "Terrier Five Draws Creighton in NCI Play". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
11. "Third NCIT Slated for March 12–17". The Troy Record. Troy, New York. February 1, 1951. p. 18. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
12. "NIT Bid to Setonia". The Herald-News. Passaic-Clifton, New Jersey. March 2, 1951. p. 18. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
13. "Loras Midlands Champ; Morningside Ties Tutors". Ottumwa Daily Courier. Ottumwa, Iowa. February 21, 1951. p. 15. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
14. "Pairings Listed for National Catholic Cage Tourney". The Times Record. Troy, New York. March 10, 1951. p. 9. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
15. "ST. FRANCIS BEATS SPRING HILL, 74-65". New York Times. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
16. Wood, Gil (March 14, 1951). "St. Michael's Drops NCIT Tilt to Fine-Shooting LeMoyne, 95–67". Daily News. Burlington, Vermont. p. 6. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
17. "TERRIERS DEFEAT LORAS FIVE, 65-63". New York Times. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
18. "LeMoyne Trip Siena, 57–53". The Ithaca Journal. March 15, 1951. p. 23. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
19. "IONA FIVE SET BACK BY SEATTLE, 69-67". New York Times. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
20. "ST. FRANCIS WINS, 84-66, GAINS FINAL". New York Times. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
21. "St. Francis Checks Seattle Five In Catholic Tourney Final, 93-79". New York Times. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
22. "St. Francis to Play Siena". New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
23. "Marquette's 1951-52 Team To Be Honored At Halftime Of Saturday's Basketball Game". Marquette University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
24. "LORETTO FIVE WINS, 66-52". New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
25. "IONA FIVE DEFEATS GANNON, 68 TO 52". New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
26. "MARQUETTE QUINTET DEFEATS IONA, 66-59". New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
27. "MARQUETTE BEATS ST. FRANCIS, 79-57". New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
28. "MARQUETTE HALTS LORETT0 FIVE, 76-64". New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2016.