1945 NAIA basketball tournament

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. 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.

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1945 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

1945 NAIA bracket

	First Round					Elite Eight					NAIA National Semifinals					NAIA National Championship
	-	Central College (Mo.)	54
	-	Eau Claire (Wisc.)	36
						-	Central College (Mo.)	48*
						-	Eastern Kentucky	50
	-	Eastern Kentucky	64
	-	Simpson (Iowa)	42
											-	Eastern Kentucky	34
	TOP TIER
											-	Pepperdine	52
	-	West Texas State	54
	-	Wichita (Kan.)	43
						-	West Texas State	45
						-	Pepperdine	52
	-	Pepperdine (Calif.)	77
	-	Peru State (Neb.)	42
																-	Pepperdine	35
																-	Loyola	49
	-	Central Normal (Ind.)	53
	-	Catawba (N.C)	39
						-	Central Normal	43
						-	Loyola	50
	-	Loyola (La.)	53
	-	Phillips (Okla.)	31
											-	Loyola	37
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	Southern Illinois	35
	-	Southern Illinois	64
	-	Washburn (Kan.)	49
						-	Southern Illinois	61
						-	Doane	44
	-	Doane (Neb.)	54
	-	Eastern Washington State	51

•  * 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
	-	Eastern Kentucky	45
	-	Southern Illinois	49

See also

• 1945 NCAA Basketball Tournament
• 1945 National Invitation Tournament