By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — A new chapter in the long history between the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team and the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is set to be written with a faceoff against Kent State officially on the cards.
After having seen their hopes at Atlantic 10, and, in-turn, NCAA Tournament, glory squandered with a loss to eventual champions VCU in the quarterfinal of the A10 conference tournament, the Bonnies accepted an invitation to the NIT, extending their season by a minimum of one game.
Bona and the NIT have quite the storied history, and to tell the tale of the team, it is impossible not to bring up the connection between the two.
The Bonnies won the NIT back in 1977 and it remains the only national title the university has to its name. They have also managed to reach the semifinals of the tournament four times, the first appearance having been in 1951 and they have done so as recently as 2022.
And not only does the acceptance of the invitation mark a return to the tournament for the first time in three years, but, having received the No. 3 seed in the San Francisco region of the bracket, it marks the return of postseason basketball to the Reilly Center as Bona earned first round hosting rights.
“It’s really exciting, having an opportunity to play in the NIT, especially at home,” Bona coach Mark Schmidt said. “It’s a tribute to the season that we had, a tribute to our players. There’s five (other) Atlantic 10 teams that got into the tournament, and three have home games. … It just speaks to the numbers that we had, the metrics, and it speaks to the season that we had. … It’s a great thing that our team did, we’re proud of it, and we’re really looking forward to playing in the NIT against a good Kent State team.”
But with a new chapter comes a new opponent. And for Bona, it is one they are very familiar with.
The Golden Flashes, a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), and the Bonnies have squared off in recent years, however not officially, with the sides meeting behind closed doors for a pre-season tune-up game each time. In fact, this will be the first sanctioned meeting between the teams in over 20 years, the last time being in December of 2003.
But the past is in the past and all that concern’s Bona now is what Kent State will bring to the RC on March 18.
One of the points of emphasis being the offense of the Flashes and their scoring leaders Jalen Sullinger and VonCameron Davis, who average 15.4 and 14.6 points per game.
“Those are the two guys, (they’re) the ‘knowns,’” Schmidt said. “They’ve taken over 900 of their 2,000 shots (as a team). They’re different players, (Sullinger) is a scorer from the perimeter, and Davis is a power-forward that can shoot 3s, but is more effective 17 feet-in, backing in and so forth. One of the reasons why they’ve had success is because of those two guys and what they can bring from an offensive standpoint. But they have other guys too. They got good role players, they got good size, they play really aggressive, they have over 100 more offensive rebounds than their opponents. They’re very aggressive, both offensively and defensively, but those two guys lead them.”
And what Kent State does bring with it, defensively, is a dedication to rebounding. Delrecco Gillespie and Cli’Ron Hornbeak average 7.9 and 7.6 points respectively, but they each also rope in an average of 7.7 and 5.9 boards per game.
“We got to block them out, we got to keep the ball above the foul line, and when the shot’s taken, we got to be physical,” Schmidt said of how his team will need to handle the duo. “We have played them in scrimmages every year for the last 10 years, so we know them and they know us. They’re a very aggressive team and we got to meet their physicality.”
What also plays into the hands of the Flashes is their depth. In their last five games they have seen between eight and 10 players come off the bench and contribute. In fact, the points their bench puts up per game (25.76) ranks 48th in the nation. This is set to be a big test for the Bonnies, who have seen their roster decimated by injuries that have only continued to stack up as the season has progressed.
But, shining a different light on the situation, Schmidt noted that what his team have accomplished this season in the wake of those injuries is a testament to the toughness of those that have remained healthy throughout the season. And, as the adage goes, it’s ‘next man up.’
“You only need five guys to play,” Schmidt said. “We’ll have a team, and we’re going to go out there and play our best. We’ve been short-handed most of the season and you can’t complain about it. We’ve won 22 games with it, and hopefully we can get another one tomorrow.
“(Our players are) tough. There’s no guarantee we’ll win or lose tomorrow night because of what we’ve done throughout the season. … But we’re tough. They don’t make excuses. It’s the next guy up, and whoever you put in there, they’re all on scholarship, so their job is to play well. We haven’t been perfect. We’ve lost 11 games, but if anybody told me that we were going to win 22 games, before the season, I would have been pleasantly surprised. So we’re going to go at it tomorrow night, we’re going to give a great effort, and hopefully it’s going to be good enough.”
St. Bonaventure and Kent State will tip-off in the Reilly Center at 7 p.m. on March 18. The game will also be nationally televised on ESPNU.
