2009 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament

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.

2009 (2009) NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
Teams	32
Champions	Rocky Mountain College (1st title)
Runner-up	Columbia College (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Robert Morris College MidAmerica Nazarene University
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
← 2008 NAIA Division I men's tournaments 2010 →

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.^[2]

Awards and honors

• Leading scorer: Eric Palm, McKendree (IL)
• Leading rebounder: Devin Uskoski, Rocky Mountain (MT)
• Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player: Devin Uskoski, Rocky Mountain (MT)
• Most consecutive tournament appearances: 18th, Georgetown (KY)
• Most tournament appearances: Georgetown (KY), 28th of 30, appearances to the NAIA Tournament
• Oklahoma Baptist won their 49th tournament game, tying them with Georgetown College (KY) for the most tournament wins all-time.^[3]

2009 NAIA bracket

	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

•  * denotes overtime.

See also

• 2009 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2009 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 2009 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• 2009 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament

References

1. . Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
2. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-23. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
3. NAIA. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-23. Retrieved 2009-04-19.