The NAIA Division II men's basketball championship is the former tournament held by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to determine the national champion of men's college basketball among its Division II members in the United States and Canada. The tournament was held annually from 1992 to 2019, after which the NAIA consolidated its two divisions, returning to the single national championship for men's and women's basketball that it held between the event's establishment in 1937 and the division split in 1992.[1]
 | |
| Sport | College basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1992 |
| Ceased | 2020 |
| No. of teams | 20 (1992–93) 24 (1994) 32 (1995–2019) |
| Venue(s) | Stephenville, Texas Nampa, Idaho Point Lookout, Missouri Sioux Falls, South Dakota |
| Most titles | Bethel (IN) (3) Cornerstone (3) Indiana Wesleyan (3) Oregon Tech (3) |
Over its twenty-eight year history, the tournament was played in four different cities and at five different venues. Unlike the NCAA's annual basketball tournaments, where games are played at an assortment of regional sites over the course of several weeks, all NAIA tournament games were played at a single, centralized arena.[2][3][4][5]
Bethel (IN), Cornerstone, Indiana Wesleyan, and Oregon Tech won the most NAIA Division II national titles, with three each.
Results
edit| NAIA Division II men's basketball championship | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Arena | Location | Championship | Semifinalists | ||||
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | ||||||
| 1992 Details |
Wisdom Gym | Stephenville, Texas | Grace | 85–79 (OT) | Northwestern (IA) | Concordia (NE) & Dakota State | ||
| 1993 Details |
Montgomery Fieldhouse | Nampa, Idaho | Willamette | 63–56 | Northern State (SD) | Northwest Nazarene & William Jewell | ||
| 1994 Details |
Eureka | 98–95 (OT) | Northern State (SD) | Lewis & Clark & Northwest Nazarene | ||||
| 1995 Details |
Bethel (IN) | 103–95 (OT) | Northwest Nazarene | Northern State & William Jewell | ||||
| 1996 Details |
Albertson | 81–72 (OT) | Whitworth | Walsh & William Jewell | ||||
| 1997 Details |
Bethel (IN) (2) | 95–94 | Siena Heights | Tabor & William Jewell | ||||
| 1998 Details |
Idaho Center | Bethel (IN) (3) | 89–87 | Oregon Tech | Mount Marty & Northwest Nazarene | |||
| 1999 Details |
Cornerstone | 113–109 | Bethel (IN) | Berea & Mount Senario | ||||
| 2000 Details |
Keeter Gymnasium | Point Lookout, Missouri | Embry–Riddle (FL) | 75–63 | College of the Ozarks | Huntington & Siena Heights | ||
| 2001 Details |
Northwestern (IA) | 82–78 | MidAmerica Nazarene | Cornerstone & Rio Grande | ||||
| 2002 Details |
Evangel | 84–61 | Robert Morris (IL) | Cornerstone & Northwestern (IA) | ||||
| 2003 Details |
Northwestern (IA) (2) | 77–57 | Bethany (KS) | Cornerstone & Warner Southern | ||||
| 2004 Details |
Oregon Tech | 81–72 | Bellevue | St. Ambrose & Sioux Falls | ||||
| 2005 Details |
Walsh | 81–70 | Concordia (NE) | Cedarville & Oregon Tech | ||||
| 2006 Details |
College of the Ozarks | 74–56 | Huntington | Lindenwood & MidAmerica Nazarene | ||||
| 2007 Details |
MidAmerica Nazarene | 78–60 | Mayville State | Northwest & Northwestern (IA) | ||||
| 2008 Details |
Oregon Tech (2) | 63–56 | Bellevue | MidAmerican Nazarene & Northwestern (IA) | ||||
| 2009 Details |
Oklahoma Wesleyan | 60–53 | College of the Ozarks | Bethel (IN) & Black Hills State | ||||
| 2010 Details |
Saint Francis (IN) | 67–66 | Walsh | Bellevue & Oklahoma Wesleyan | ||||
| 2011 Details |
Cornerstone (2) | 80–71 | Saint Francis (IN) | College of the Ozarks & Northwood | ||||
| 2012 Details |
Oregon Tech (3) | 63–46 | Northwood | Davenport & McPherson | ||||
| 2013 Details |
Cardinal Stritch | 73–59 | William Penn | Indiana–Southeast & Grace | ||||
| 2014 Details |
Indiana Wesleyan | 78–68 | Midland | Robert Morris (IL) & Southeastern (FL) | ||||
| 2015 Details |
Cornerstone (3) | 66–45 | Dakota Wesleyan | Davenport & Embry-Riddle (FL) | ||||
| 2016 Details |
Indiana Wesleyan (2) | 69–66 | Saint Francis (IN) | Indiana–East & Warner | ||||
| 2017 Details |
Union (KY) | 72–69 | Cornerstone | Bellevue & Indiana Wesleyan | ||||
| 2018 Details |
Sanford Pentagon | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | Indiana Wesleyan (3) | 84–71 | Saint Francis (IN) | Indiana–East & College of Idaho | ||
| 2019 Details |
Spring Arbor | 82–76 | Oregon Tech | College of Idaho & Marian | ||||
| 2020 Details |
No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||
Champions
edit| School | Finals record |
Finals appearances |
Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana Wesleyan | 3–0 | 3 | 2014, 2016, 2018 |
| Cornerstone | 3–1 | 4 | 1999, 2011, 2015 |
| Oregon Tech | 3–2 | 5 | 2004, 2008, 2012 |
| Bethel (IN) | 3–1 | 4 | 1995, 1997, 1998 |
| Northwestern (IA) | 2–1 | 3 | 2001, 2003 |
| Spring Arbor | 1–0 | 1 | 2019 |
| Union (KY) | 1–0 | 1 | 2017 |
| Cardinal Stritch | 1–0 | 1 | 2013 |
| Saint Francis (IN) | 1–3 | 4 | 2010 |
| Oklahoma Wesleyan | 1–0 | 1 | 2009 |
| MidAmerica Nazarene | 1–1 | 2 | 2007 |
| College of the Ozarks | 1–2 | 3 | 2006 |
| Walsh | 1–1 | 2 | 2005 |
| Evangel | 1–0 | 1 | 2002 |
| Embry–Riddle | 1–0 | 1 | 2000 |
| College of Idaho | 1–0 | 1 | 1996 |
| Eureka | 1–0 | 1 | 1994 |
| Willamette | 1–0 | 1 | 1993 |
| Grace | 1–0 | 1 | 1992 |
- Schools highlighted in yellow have reclassified athletics from the NAIA.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "NAIA to Combine Basketball Divisions" (Press release). NAIA. April 16, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ "NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
- ^ NAIA Men's Division II Championship History
- ^ "Anthem protest policy moves NAIA basketball tournament away from College of the Ozarks". Springfield News-Leader. October 27, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- ^ "NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship Awarded to Sioux Falls, S.D." NAIA. November 17, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2018.