Great American Conference men's basketball tournament
Collegiate basketball tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Great American Conference men's basketball tournament is the annual conference basketball championship tournament for the Great American Conference.
| Great American Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Conference basketball championship | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Conference | Great American Conference |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Played | 2012–present |
| Current champion | Harding (3rd) |
| Most championships | Arkansas Tech (3) Harding (3) |
| Official website | GAC men's basketball |
| Host stadiums | |
| Southside Arena (2025–present) FireLake Arena (2022–20234) Steelman Field House (2021) Bruin Fieldhouse (2012–2020) | |
| Host locations | |
| Fort Smith, AR (2025–present) Shawnee, OK (2022–2024) Monticello, AR (2021) Bartlesville, OK (2012–2020) | |
The tournament has been held annually since 2012, one year after the conference was initially founded. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records.[1]
The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament.
Arkansas Tech and Harding have won the most tournaments, with three each.
Results
| Year | Champions | Score | Runner-up | MVP | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Arkansas Tech | 69–58 | Southwestern Oklahoma State | Jared Williamson, Arkansas Tech |
Bruin Fieldhouse (Bartlesville, OK) |
| 2013 | Ouachita Baptist | 59–54 | Arkansas Tech | Colt Fason, Ouachita Baptist | |
| 2014 | Harding | 93–86 (OT) |
Henderson State | Weston Jameson, Harding | |
| 2015 | Arkansas Tech (2) | 80–77 | East Central | Mike Balogun, Arkansas Tech | |
| 2016 | Ouachita Baptist (2) | 72–56 | Harding | Tirrell Brown, Ouachita Baptist | |
| 2017 | East Central | 82–67 | Arkansas–Monticello | Braxton Reeves, East Central | |
| 2018 | Southern Nazarene | 62–57 | Arkansas–Monticello | Jhonathan Dunn, Southern Nazarene | |
| 2019 | Southern Nazarene (2) | 80–77 | Southeastern Oklahoma State | Micah Speight, Southern Nazarene | |
| 2020 | Henderson State | 72–61 | Oklahoma Baptist | Chris Parker, Henderson State | |
| 2021 | Arkansas–Monticello | 75–74 | Southern Arkansas | DaJuan Jones, Arkansas–Monticello |
Steelman Field House (Monticello, AR) |
| 2022 | Southwestern Oklahoma State | 66–58 | Southern Nazarene | Damion Thornton, Southwestern Oklahoma State |
FireLake Arena (Shawnee, OK) |
| 2023 | Southern Arkansas | 89–69 | Arkansas Tech | Brock Schreiner, Southern Arkansas | |
| 2024 | Arkansas Tech | 72–57 | Southern Nazarene | Cassius Brooks, Arkansas Tech | |
| 2025 | Harding (2) | 75–74 | Southern Nazarene | Keyln McBride, Harding |
Southside Arena (Fort Smith, AR) |
| 2026 | Harding (3) | 73–68 | Southern Nazarene | Keyln McBride, Harding |
Championship records
| School | Finals Appearances |
Finals Record |
Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harding | 4 | 3–1 | 2014, 2025, 2026 |
| Arkansas Tech | 5 | 3–2 | 2012, 2015, 2024 |
| Southern Nazarene | 6 | 2–4 | 2018, 2019 |
| Ouachita Baptist | 3 | 2–1 | 2013, 2016 |
| Arkansas–Monticello | 3 | 1–2 | 2021 |
| Southern Arkansas | 2 | 1–1 | 2023 |
| Southwestern Oklahoma State | 2 | 1–1 | 2022 |
| Henderson State | 2 | 1–1 | 2020 |
| East Central | 2 | 1–1 | 2017 |
| Oklahoma Baptist | 1 | 0–1 | |
| Southeastern Oklahoma State | 1 | 0–1 |
- Northwestern Oklahoma State has not yet reached the tournament final.