| Season | 1949–50 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 32 | ||||
| Finals site | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri | ||||
| Champions | Indiana State (1st title, 3rd title game, 4th Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | East Central State (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| MVP | Clemens "Lenny" Rzeszewski (Indiana State) | ||||
| |||||
The 1950 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 13th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1]
The championship game featured Indiana State and East Central State. It was the first time these two teams had met in the tournament history. The Sycamores defeated the Tigers, 61-57.
This would be Indiana State's highest finish in their 12 career appearances in the NAIA tournament. Winning the championship puts them in a unique group to place 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Also Indiana State finally gets a win after 2 times as runner-up. Uniquely, Indiana State has finished as the National Runner-up in the NAIA (1946 and 1948), the NCAA Division I (1979) and the NCAA Division II (1968) tournaments.