By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
It's August 2017. Northwest Missouri State men's basketball had just won its first national title that spring under Ben McCollum.
During a time that can be defined as the start of a dynasty, McCollum secured the commitment that August of Lafayette St. Joseph point guard and three-time all-district honoree Diego Bernard.
All of these years later, as Bernard gets ready to suit up against his hometown school Missouri Western for the last time in the regular season, and for the last time in St. Joseph, he never would have imagined being 10-0 against the Griffons in his career up to this point.
"Pshh, no," Bernard chuckled. "I wouldn't have believed it at all."
Bernard is 4-0 at the MWSU Fieldhouse in his career. Each of those wins have come by 23 points. 87-64 in 2018-19, 92-69 in 2019-20, 79-56 in 2020-21 and 84-61 in 2021-22.
Even before Bernard arrived in Maryville, the Bearcats have had the Griffons' number, winning now 22 straight meetings in the Highway 71 matchup. In fact, Northwest has won its last 25 games played in the city of St. Joseph - six of those wins against the Griffons.
Bernard will tell you, though, that's not the main reason he's valued getting to play in St. Joseph and northwest Missouri through these years.
"Just having all of my family and friends who's come and watched me through high school and getting to see me through college, coming back to St. Joe, it's just good times," he said. "Seeing everybody and familiar faces. Just laughing and smiling and hoping I play good."
Bernard's success against his hometown team is really the tip of the iceberg in his prolific career. Bernard leads the No. 3 Bearcats (24-2, 17-2 MIAA) this season in scoring, rebounding, steals and made field goals and free throws.
Northwest is on a 10-game winning streak, during which time the defense has stolen the spotlight. Over the last 10 games, the Bearcats are only allowing a stingy 47.4 points per game. Their last six opponents have failed to score more than 53.
The Bearcats have now allowed only 55.9 points per game this season - a figure that now ranks No. 1 in NCAA Division II men's basketball.
"We're first in the league (standings) right now," Bernard said. "I think that just goes to our defense. In the beginning and middle of the season, we was dead last in the MIAA, and then we started playing defense pry 8-9 games ago. So, we just have to keep that up and I feel good about where we are right now."
Northwest comes to St. Joseph Saturday, once again favored. They do, however, face a Missouri Western team (11-13, 7-11 MIAA) that's won three of its last four games after going through a seven-game losing skid earlier this winter.
The Griffons went through that slide without starting all-MIAA forward and team captain Will Eames, who got injured in the second half during an 87-64 loss at Bearcat Arena on January 7.
Eames returned to the lineup on February 4 at home against Washburn, and Missouri Western has gone 3-1 since that time, as the Griffons battle to make the 10-team field for the MIAA tournament on March 1 in Kansas City.
The Griffons have had a full week off from games to prepare for the toughest game left on their schedule by far. Even though history is on his side, Bernard knows that Saturday will be a formidable challenge.
"Just coming in and trying to control what we can control on the offensive and defensive end," Bernard said when asked about Saturday's goals. "Not trying to get out of our character. Just trying to play our defense and make it tough for shooters to get shots open and make it tough for the one-on-one players to make open shots."
When you look through a Northwest media guide, you might notice it's littered with Bernard's name. He has rewritten numerous program and NCAA DII records.
With 2,088 career points, he needs just 11 more to pass Ryan Hawkins for fourth most in school history. He's one of just three players across Division I and II to accumulate over 2,000 career points, more than 900 career rebounds, more than 400 career assists and now more than 250 career steals.
Bernard will try and become the first Division II player to win four national titles in a career this spring, as Northwest seeks its third straight title and fifth as a program - all since 2017.
Bernard has been a part of three MIAA tournament titles and four straight MIAA regular season crowns. In an NCAA record 161 career games, Bernard has started 149 of them, and has recorded an astonishing 155 victories. A modest 96.3 career win percentage. That includes a 16-0 mark in the NCAA tournament.
The list, as you might have guessed, goes on. Bernard deserves credit, but he's quick to point out that none of his accolades would have been possible without the loyalty of Bearcat nation and Ben McCollum, who swayed him out of St. Joseph in the first place back in August 2017.
"It don't matter if you call him, (McCollum) is going to be there for you on and off the court," Bernard said. "It just means a lot to me, these last five years. The fans, too. Home, away. Away games feel like it's a home game. Everybody travels, which I like having that family atmosphere. Everyone wants to see everybody succeed."
His decision to go to Maryville, and to stay there for a fifth season, has worked out beyond anything that even Bernard may have fathomed.
And the best part for Bernard is, he's not quite done yet.
"Going into the postseason, we're just focused on these last three (regular season) games," he said. "Trying to win out the conference first and then we'll see where we're seeded in the MIAA tournament. We'll just take it one game at a time, not trying to look too far ahead. Just staying focused on the games we have in the regular season still to go."
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.