College notebook: Former QU assistant coach guiding nation’s No. 1-ranked NCAA D-II team

QUINCY — The new No. 1-ranked men’s basketball team in NCAA Division II is being led by a former Quincy University assistant coach.

Minnesota State-Moorhead moved to the top on the National Basketball Coaches Association poll this week with a 14-0 record, displacing reigning D-II national champion Nova Southeastern after the Sharks had their 62-game winning streak snapped.

The Dragons are coached by Tim Bergstraser, who spent the 2017-18 season as Ryan Hellenthal’s top assistant at Quincy.

This is the first time in Minnesota State-Moorhead history it has been the No. 1 team in the nation. The Dragons were No. 2 in the three previous polls, which was the highest they had been ranked since becoming a D-II program.

The 14-0 start also is the second best in program history. The 1970-71 team, which was an NAIA program at the time, started 15-0 before suffering its first loss. The 2015-16 MSU-Moorhead team owns the longest win streak at 16 games.

Bergstraser left QU to become the top assistant on the MSU-Moorhead staff and was elevated to head coach prior to the 2022-23 season. He currently has a 39-7 record as head coach.

Meanwhile, the Great Lakes Valley Conference does not have a team in the top 25. Indianapolis, the lone team undefeated in GLVC play at 5-0 but with a 9-4 overall record, is receiving votes, as is Upper Iowa, which is 8-4 overall and 3-1 in the GLVC.

Upper Iowa, which is in its first season in the GLVC, is scheduled to visit Pepsi Arena for a matchup with Quincy University at 3 p.m. Saturday.

WIU releases 2024 football schedule

MACOMB, Ill. — The Western Illinois University football team, with Joe Davis in his first season as head coach, will kick off its 2024 season with three consecutive road games and four its first five away from Hanson Field.

The Leathernecks’ schedule was released Tuesday with just five of its 12 games at home.

WIU travels to Northern Illinois, Indiana and Illinois State before getting a bye week. The first home game will be Sept. 28 against McKendree in the final non-conference game. The following week, the Leathernecks travel to Charleston Southern for their inaugural game in the Big South-OVC Alliance.

WIU announced at the end of the 2022-23 school year it was leaving the Summit League for the Ohio Valley Conference. That also meant leaving the Missouri Valley Football Conference. WIU played in the MVFC in 2023 because that schedule had already been set.

The Leathernecks’ four home games during the Big South-OVC season will be against UT-Martin (Oct. 12), Tennessee Tech (Oct. 19), Tennessee State (Nov. 9) and Gardner Webb (Nov. 23).

Talton is Lions’ top 3-point shooter

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Jeremiah Talton is doing what he has always done.

Shoot and make threes.

Talton, a sophomore, is the top 3-point shooter for the Lindenwood men’s basketball team, having made 21 treys in the Lions’ first 15 games while hitting at a 40.4-percent clip. The former QUincy High School and John Wood Community College standout is averaging 7.9 points with 11 starts in 15 games.

Talton is the all-time leading 3-point shooter in QHS history, setting the single-season record with 104 treys his senior season and the career record with 229. He set the single-game 3-point record at JWCC last winter and was the Trail Blazers’ top gunner at 41.7 percent from 3-point range.

McGowan earns another OVC weekly award

MACOMB, Ill. — The Ohio Valley Conference might want to reconsider its Freshman of the Week honor to the Raegan McCowan Award. The Western Illinois University guard wins the honor week after week.

Tuesday, McCowan was named the OVC’s top freshman for the sixth time this season.

Last week, the 5-foot-11 McCowan averaged 16.5 points and 11 rebounds, while shooting 52 percent from the field as the Leathernecks split a pair of OVC games with Southeast Missouri and Lindenwood.

McCowan posted her second double-double of the season with 21 points and a career-high 13 rebounds against SEMO. She had 12 points and nine rebounds against Lindenwood, scoring 10 of her 12 points in the third quarter as WIU scored a 74-58 victory.