The 1949 South American Basketball Championship , the fourteenth South American Basketball Championship , was held between April 21 and May 7, 1949 in Asunción , Paraguay , which hosted the championship for the first time. The winner was the national team of Uruguay , which won the title for the fifth time, for the second time in a row, and was able to draw level with the national team of Argentina in terms of number of championships.
Each team played against each opponent once, so that each team had to play five games (a total of 15 games). There were two points for each win and one point for a defeat. In the event of a tie, the direct comparison decided. Only if there was a tie for first place would there have been a decisive final game. The team with the most points became South American champions in 1949.