1945 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
| 1945 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 16 |
| Finals Site |
Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri |
| Champions |
Loyola (La.) (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four) |
| Runner-Up |
Pepperdine (Calif.) (1st title game, 1st Final Four) |
| Semifinalists |
Eastern Kentucky (1st Final Four) Southern Illinois (1st Final Four) |
| Chuck Taylor MVP |
Fred Lewis (Eastern Kentucky) |
The 1945 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 8th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 16 teams playing in a single-elimination format, instead of the normal 32. It is the only tournament to feature only 16 teams. The NAIA Semifinals featured four new teams for the first time since the inaugural year, 1937. The championship game featured Loyola University (La.) defeating Pepperdine University (Calif.) 49 to 35.
Many of the records set by the 1945 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:
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.
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