By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — Unfortunately for the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team, its return to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) will not be capped with a storybook ending like its other historic runs have had.
The Bonnies, who earned the No. 3 seed in the San Francisco Region of the bracket, crashed out of the tournament’s first round with a 75-56 loss on their home court, officially ending their season.
But while the game eventually ran away from the home side behind some dropped heads and sloppy possessions, the early minutes of the game spun a completely different tale: one of hope, one of belief, but one that eventually ended with a disastrous conclusion.
Spurred on by the noise of a boisterous Reilly Center crowd, Bona came out of the gates on fire, hitting on all cylinders and looking like a team unencumbered by a mounting injury crisis. Going up 12-2 in the opening minutes, Kent State was forced to call a timeout to avoid the game from getting completely out of hand, a call that the Bona faithful responded to by just about blowing the roof off the RC.
It was all going so well for the Bonnies. Until it wasn’t.
Slowly, but surely Bona saw the grip it had on the game slip away behind a number of scoring runs by the Golden Flashes. At first it was an 8-3 run, then a 15-2 run that saw the visitors grab their first lead of the game and allowed them to take a 29-28 lead into the intermission.
After the break, it was more of the same from Kent State: an unrelenting offense that continued to grow in efficiency as the Bonnies were beaten down.
The Flashes opened the second half with a 9-3 run and put the final nails in the coffin for Bona’s season with a 13-3 run that put their hosts in a 19-point hole, one that got as deep as 22 points.
“Give Kent State credit, I thought we got out of the blocks really well … but they bounced back, they punched back and we had a hard time answering,” Bona coach Mark Schmidt said. “I would say the first five minutes of the second half they were more aggressive. They beat us in the paint, and that’s one of our areas, because we don’t shoot the ball well, that we have to, not dominate, but win. And they dominated us. They dominated us on the glass and they just played better than us today.”
Schmidt admitted his side were “sloppy” at times, struggling mightily on the offensive side of the floor, especially in the second half where the team shot just over 30% from the field compared to its counterparts, which shot at a near-56% tick. And the Golden Flashes were able to get it done just about everywhere on the court, dominating points in the paint 38-20, second-chance points 14-0, fast-break points 21-13 and bench points 29-6.
“For second-chance points to be 16-0, you can’t get dominated like that,” Schmidt said. “We won points-off-turnovers, but the physical part of it, second-chance points and points in the paint, (areas in which,) usually, we’ve done a really good job throughout the year, today, they got us, and that’s why they beat us.”
St. Bonaventure guard Noah Bolanga (23) sheds a Kent State defender as he drives to the basket. (Hunter O. Lyle)
And as soon as Kent State started to figure out the formula needed to take down Bona, what didn’t help the latter was its inability to respond.
“When you’re not shooting the ball well, you’re not stopping the opponent,” Schmidt said. “It’s hard to really push the ball and they got into the gaps. We had 15 points off of turnovers, which is good, we only had 13 fast break points. But give (Kent State) credit, it’s hard to run when you’re taking the ball out of the net.”
Ultimately, it was not the way Bona would have liked to round out its 2024-25 campaign. But in immediate retrospect, Schmidt noted that he was proud of what he and his team accomplished.
“To win 22 games and to get off to a 14-1 start, it’s the fifth most wins in school history,” Schmidt said. “(Co-captains Melvin Council Jr. and Noel Brown) have done a really good job leading that team. … To be able to have an NIT home game says a lot about the type of season that we had.”
Reflecting positively on the season as well was Noel Brown, who, after subbing out for the final time as a member of the Bonnies, was given a standing ovation by the home crowd. A feeling of appreciation that Brown reciprocated.
“In all things, I just try to be grateful, and I didn’t expect to have another game in the RC, but with that being said, I don’t think I could be any more grateful for it,” Brown said. “I really got to have some interactions with some people I didn’t think I’d get to play in front of again, so I got to feel that emotion. So, I’m honestly just grateful. Ten years down the road, I’m going to look back and remember the people I saw. I love my guys, I’m grateful.
“We’re family. … I can’t, like, I’ve talked to my teammates about how in 10 years, I’m going to be back with the fans, cheering and all kinds of stuff and as soon as I get my money right, I’m going to be invested in the Bonnies team. I love the Bonnies, they swooped in when I was going through some family stuff and I want to be there for them too. I love Bonaventure.”
Council, shared in that sentiment.
“We became close in summertime, and we just got that connection that I feel like I’ve known these guys for three-plus years, and we just met a couple months ago,” Council said. “I just love everybody on the team.”
Now, after the season that Council had for the Bonnies, the question has been swirling around as to whether or not he will make his return to the team next season. A question he was able to give a relative answer to — and one that is poised to bring smiles to the Bona faithful.
“I know people are going to try to throw me a lot of money, NIL money, and I’m not in it for the money,” Council said. “I’m in it for the culture and the fans and the family. So, that being said, I will have a talk with my mom and my dad, but most likely, I do feel like the best thing is to come back and play another year at St. Bonaventure because I fell short against VCU and our point guard went down. So, I just want to give it back to the community and try to win the A10.”
With hope for the future in its pocket ahead of the transfer portal opening, St. Bonaventure finished the season with a 22-12 overall record.
