2009 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

2009 (2009) NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
Teams 32
Finals Site Municipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
Champions Rocky Mountain College
(1st title)
Runner-Up Columbia College
(1st title game)
Semifinalists Robert Morris College
(4th Final Four)
MidAmerica Nazarene University
(1st Final Four)
Coach of the Year Bill Dreikosen
(Rocky Mountain)
Chuck Taylor MVP Devin Uskoski
(Rocky Mountain)
Player of the Year Geoff Payne
(Westminster (Ut.))
Charles Stevenson
Hustle Award
 Nate Richardson
(Rocky Mountain)
Attendance 38,502
NAIA Men's Division I Tournaments
← 2008 2010 →

The 72nd Buffalo Funds - NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held from March 18 to 24 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 72nd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The Heart of America Athletic Conference was the host conference for the tournament.[1] This was the Heart of America Athletic Conference's first year as a Division I conference.

The tournament got off to a surprising start, as five higher seeded teams lost on the opening day, including top-seeded Rogers State, who lost to William Jewell, who had only qualified for the tournament by receiving the Heart of America Athletic Conference's host bid into the field.

In the end, two unseeded teams, Rocky Mountain College of Montana and Columbia College of Missouri—neither of whom had ever won a game at the tournament prior to 2009—met in the championship game, having each disposed of three higher-ranked teams along the way. Rocky Mountain won the championship with a 77-61 victory, claiming Rocky's first national basketball title.

Awards and honors

2009 NAIA bracket[3]

First Round
March 18, 19 		Second Round
March 20 		Elite Eight
March 21 		NAIA National Semifinals
March 23 		NAIA National Championship
March 24
               
1 Rogers State (Okla.) 73
- William Jewell (Mo.) 76
- William Jewell 67
- Auburn-Montgomery 83
- Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.) 72
16 Cumberland (Tenn.) 62
- Auburn-Montgomery 76
TOP TIER
March 18
8 Robert Morris 87
9 Fresno Pacific (Calif.) 67
- Tougaloo (Miss.) 69
- Tougaloo 69
8 Robert Morris 89
- Montana State-Northern 73
8 Robert Morris (Ill.) 76*
8 Robert Morris 70
- Rocky Mountain 75
5 Mountain State (W. Va.) 88
- LSU-Shreveport 76
5 Mountain State 79
12 Concordia 85
- Oklahoma Christian 55
12 Concordia (Calif.) 70
12 Concordia 64
TOP TIER
March 19
- Rocky Mountain 72
13 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 77
- Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 78*
- Rocky Mountain 71
- Central Methodist 62
- Central Methodist (Mo.) 73
4 Georgetown (Ky.) 64
- Rocky Mountain 77
- Columbia 61
3 Union (Tenn.) 82
- Science and Arts (Okla.) 63
3 Union 64
- Columbia 83
- Columbia (Mo.) 72
14 Lee (Tenn.) 69
- Columbia 50
BOTTOM TIER
March 18
6 Westminster 47
11 Cumberlands (Ky.) 81
- Jarvis Christian (Texas) 65
11 Cumberlands 62
6 Westminster 67
- Biola (Calif.) 63
6 Westminster (Utah) 68*
- Columbia 60
- MidAmerica Nazarene 56
7 McKendree (Ill.) 83
- Northwestern Oklahoma State 58
7 McKendree 87
10 Texas Wesleyan 75
- Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 69
10 Texas Wesleyan 75
7 McKendree 55
BOTTOM TIER
March 19
- MidAmerica Nazarene 59
15 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 72
- MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 78
- MidAmerica Nazarene 64
2 Oklahoma Baptist 63
- Life (Ga.) 81
2 Oklahoma Baptist 90

References

  1. ↑ Heart of America Athletic Conference Selected as 2009 Host Conference.
  2. ↑ NAIA. "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  3. ↑ "2009 NAIA Men's Bracket" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
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