2002 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

2002 (2002) NAIA Men's Division I
Basketball Tournament
Teams 32
Finals Site Municipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
Champions Science and Arts (Okla.) (1st title)
Runner-Up Oklahoma Baptist (6th title game)
Semifinalists Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (3rd Final Four)
Barat (Ill.) (1st Final Four)
Coach of the Year Harry Statham (McKendree (Ill.))
Chuck Taylor MVP Michael Williamson (Science & Arts (Okla.))
Player of the Year DuJuan Brown and Robert Joseph (Oklahoma Baptist and Union (Tenn.))
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award Troy Farrow, (Barat (Ill.))
Attendance 21,456
Top scorer DuJuan Brown Oklahoma Baptist
(136 points)
NAIA Men's Division I Tournaments
«2001  2003»

The 2002 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. This was the first NAIA tournament back in Kansas City since 1993. The NAIA headquarters also relocated to Olathe, Kansas this year. The 65th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format[1]. The 2002 champion was 2001's runner-up, University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. The Drovers faced Sooner Athletic Conference rival Oklahoma Baptist University in the championship game. It was the first time two teams from the Sooner Athletic Conference ever met in the national championship game. And the first SAC team to win the tournament since Oklahoma City University won in 1996. The Drovers rolled over the Bison 96–79. Finishing out the NAIA Semifinals were Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) and Barat College(Ill.).

2002 was also the first year Buffalo Funds, a Kansas City-based investment management firm, was the title corporate sponsor [2]. In 2008 Buffalo Funds extended its contract with the NAIA tournament until the 2010 tournament.[3]

Contents

Awards and honors

2002 NAIA bracket

  First Round Second Round Elite Eight NAIA National Semifinals NAIA National Championship
                                               
1  Georgetown (Ky.) 88  
-  Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 65  
  1  Georgetown 59  
  16  Oklahoma City 74  
-  Houston Baptist (Texas) 82
16  Oklahoma City 88  
  16  Oklahoma City 72  
TOP TIER
  9  Azusa Pacific 80  
9  Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 78  
-  Spalding (Ky.) 44  
  9  Azusa Pacific 97
  -  Auburn Montgomery 50  
-  Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) 56
8  Southern-New Orleans (La.) 55  
  9  Azusa Pacific 81  
  5  Oklahoma Baptist 93  
-  Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 78  
5  Oklahoma Baptist 89  
  5  Oklahoma Baptist 90
  -  Martin Methodist 79  
-  Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 53
12  Spring Hill (Ala.) 47  
  5  Oklahoma Baptist 89
TOP TIER
  -  Olivet Nazarene 69  
13  Edwards Waters (Fla.) 64  
-  Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 80  
  -  Olivet Nazarene 85
  4  McKendree 78  
-  Georgia Southwestern 71
4  McKendree (Ill.) 87  
5  Oklahoma Baptist 79
-  Science & Arts 96
3  Biola (Calif.) 75  
-  Barber-Scotia (N.C.) 46  
  3  Biola 79  
  -  Science & Arts 92  
-  Science & Arts (Okla.) 68
14  Carroll (Mont.) 61  
  -  Science and Arts 92  
BOTTOM TIER
  -  Huston-Tillotson 77  
11  Cumberlands (Ky.) 69  
-  Dillard (La.) 55  
  11  Cumberland 73
  -  Huston-Tillotson 78  
-  Huston-Tillotson (Texas) 83
6  Faulkner (Ala.) 68  
  -  Science & Arts 111
  15  Barat 106*  
7  Mountain State (W. Va.) 85  
-  Wayland Baptist (Texas) 71  
  7  Mountain State 47
  -  Westmont 75  
-  Westmont (Calif.) 88
10  Southern Polytechnic (Ga.) 77  
  -  Westmont 79
BOTTOM TIER
  15  Barat 91  
15  Barat (Ill.) 93  
-  Columbia (Mo.) 86  
  15  Barat 96
  2  Union 87*  
-  Westminster (Utah) 52
2  Union (Tenn.) 62  

References

See also