1979 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1979 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. The 42nd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1]

1979 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Teams	32
Champions	Drury (1 title, 1 title game, 1 Fab Four)
Runner-Up	Henderson State (2 title game, 3 Fab Four)
Semifinalists	Southwest Texas State Midwestern State
Chuck Taylor MVP	Lawrence Washington (Drury)
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award	Mike Carter (Drury)

Awards and honors

• Leading scorer:
• Leading rebounder:
• Player of the Year: est. 1994[2]

1979 NAIA bracket

	First Round					Second Round					Elite Eight					NAIA National Semifinals					NAIA National Championship
	1	Cameron (Okla.)	76
	-	Central State (Ohio)	69
						1	Cameron	74*
						16	Tri-State	73
	-	Southern Maine	61
	16	Tri-State (Ind.)	84
											1	Cameron	73
	TOP TIER
											8	Southwest Texas State	77*
	9	St. John's (Minn.)	83*
	-	West Virginia Wesleyan	81
						9	St. John's	75
						8	Southwest Texas State	79
	-	Kentucky State	74
	8	Southwest Texas State	78
																8	Southwest Texas State	57
																5	Henderson State	58
	5	Henderson State (Ark.)	70
	-	Point Park (Pa.)	69
						5	Henderson State	84*
						12	Wisconsin-Eau Claire	78
	-	Central Wesleyan (S.C.)	48
	12	Wisconsin-Eau Claire	84
											5	Henderson State	70
	TOP TIER
											-	Quincy	69
	13	Southern Tech (Ga)	75
	-	California State-Dominguez Hills	66
						13	Southern Tech	57
						-	Quincy	61
	-	Quincy (Ill.)	77
	4	Birmingham–Southern (Ala.)	75
																					5	Henderson State	54
																					3	Drury	60
	3	Drury (Mo.)	69
	-	Hanover (Ind.)	60
						3	Drury	72
						14	Kearney State	69
	-	LeMoyne-Owen (Tenn.)	79
	14	Kearney State (Neb.)	98
											3	Drury	89
	BOTTOM TIER
											6	Briar Cliff	84
	11	High Point (N.C.)	91
	-	Oregon Tech	62
						11	High Point	65
						6	Briar Cliff	76
	-	Louisiana College	69
	6	Briar Cliff (Iowa)	83
																3	Drury	77
																-	Midwestern State	59
	7	Central Washington	83
	-	Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)	62
						7	Central Washington	66
						-	Midwestern State	73
	-	Midwestern State (Tex.)	64
	10	Grand Valley State (Mich.)	63
											-	Midwestern State	77*
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	Marymount	76
	15	Norfolk State (Virginia)	64
	-	St. John Fisher(N.Y.)	57
						15	Norfolk State	77
						-	Marymount	87
	-	Marymount (Kan.)	79
	2	Grand Canyon (Ariz.)	74

•  * denotes overtime.

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.

	NAIA Third Place Game
	8	Southwest Texas State	101
	-	Midwestern State	88

References

1. "NAIA.org". Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
2. NAIA Championship History Archived 2009-05-05 at WebCite