In the first round of the NIT, the Kent State Golden Flashes defeated the St. Bonaventure Bonnies 75-56 on Tuesday night. The Bonnies hosted this game, as it was their first time in the tournament since their NIT Final Four run in 2022. The victory marks Kent State’s first NIT win since 2011.
Delrecco Gillespie and VonCameron Davis had a team-high 14 points for the Golden Flashes. Jalen Sullinger and Cli’Ron Hornbeak both added 11.
Chance Moore led the Bonnies in scoring with 16. Jonah Hinton added 12 and Noel Brown added 11.
The Golden Flashes grabbed 11 offensive rebounds to the Bonnies seven, winning the rebounding battle 47-29. Kent State also had 16 second-chance points to the Bonnies’ zero, which ended up being a difference-maker. Another big reason the Golden Flashes won by a big margin was the shooting numbers. Kent State shot 50% from the field compared to the Bonnies’ 34.4%. Kent State shot 9 for 18 from 3 as well while being unconscious from 3 in the second half.
“Give Kent State credit, they played well,” said St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt.
The Bonnies started strong, going on a 12-2 run in the first few minutes of the game. After their hot start, they cooled off the last 37 minutes of the game. Schmidt attests this to Kent State’s “blue collar” playstyle.
The Golden Flashes will take on the winner of Stanford and CSUN on Saturday.
