The 1941 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

. The 5th annual NAIA

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...

 basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format . The third time was the charm for the Aztecs of San Diego State

San Diego State Aztecs men's basketball

The San Diego State Aztecs basketball team is the basketball team that represent San Diego State University Aztecs in San Diego, California. The school's team currently competes in the Mountain West Conference, and play their home games in Viejas Arena...

. After losing the previous two years to Southwestern College and Tarkio College, the Aztecs finally won beating Murray State College (Ky.)

Murray State College

Murray State College, is a public, co-educational community college located in southeastern Oklahoma with the main campus located in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. The college is named in honor of former Oklahoma Governor William H...

 36-34. It also was the first time that the tournament MVP was awarded to a player whose team did not win the championship, and make the NAIA Final Four (Charles Thomas played for Northwestern State University

Northwestern State Demons

The Northwestern State University athletic teams go by the Demons, with women's athletic teams generally called the Lady Demons, and its mascot is Vic the Demon. Once a member of the celebrated SIAA conference, the school now competes in the Southland Conference....

 which lost in the second round to Texas Wesleyan University

Texas Wesleyan University

Texas Wesleyan University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university founded by the United Methodist Church in 1890. The main campus is located in the Polytechnic Heights Neighborhood of Fort Worth, Texas, with branch campuses in Burleson and downtown Fort Worth.-History:Texas Wesleyan...

).
1941 would make the departure of the first of the eight originating teams to leave the tournament. Baker University

Baker University

Baker University is a private, residential university located in Baldwin City, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools...

 who played in the 1937

1937 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

-3rd 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.-References:...

 tournament, to date has not returned.

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1941 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:

• Leading scorer est. 1963
• Leading rebounder est. 1963
• Charles Stevenson Hustle Award est. 1958
• Coach of the Year est. 1954
• Player of the Year est. 1994

1941 NAIA bracket

•  * denotes overtime.

3rd place game

The third place game featured the losing team from the national semifinalist to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

See also

• 1941 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
  1941 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
  -External links:* on Shrp Sports * , source for much of the information on this page.-See also:* 1941 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament...