By CONNOR JACKSON

Special to the Era

ST. BONAVENTURE — The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team’s season ended Tuesday with a 75-56 loss in their NIT first round matchup against Kent State.

Things looked promising early on, Bona was ahead 12-2 in the first three and a half minutes.

But the Golden Flashes responded well, and they took a 27-24 lead late in the first half. Kent State coasted to a 19 point win in the second half, outscoring the Bonnies 46-28.

“Give them credit,” Bona coach Mark Schmidt said. “They bumped back, they punched back, and we had a hard time answering.”

Kent State just had too much of an advantage in the paint, winning the rebounding category 46-29 and points in the paint 38-20. Center Noel Brown only had three rebounds. They also shot 50% from three, while the Bonnies were 30%.

“The paint is one of the areas that we have to win because we don’t shoot the ball well,” Schmidt said. “That’s one area that we don’t have to dominate, but win. And they dominated us.”

It was still a fun night at the Reilly Center, the students were just as spirited and into the game when the game was non-competitive and the walkon’s came in.

Olean native Jack DeRose scored his first career points with the Bonnies. Fellow walkon Brock Ostrom also got a bucket during his action on the court.

Chance Moore was able to finish his senior year with a 16-point performance which led the game. Brown and Jonah Hinton were each able to hit double figures with 11 and 12 points respectively.

The Golden Flashes held a 29-28 lead at halftime. Melvin Council Jr. made two first half three’s, but didn’t end up with a strong scoring night that the Bonnies usually need him to have, only having nine points.

Council Jr. confirmed that he was interested in returning for next season, very positive news for Bonnies fans looking to see the All-Atlantic 10 third-team selection back. “I can say this to the community and fans,” Council Jr. said. “I’m not in it for the money, I’m in it for the culture, family, and fans. I will have to talk to my mom and my dad, but most likely I do feel the best thing is to come back and play another year at St.

Bonaventure.”

Overall, Schmidt is proud of what he saw from his group this year. “You win 22 games and get off to a 14-1 start,” Schmidt said. “I think it’s the third, fourth, or fifth, most wins in school history. You always want to get to the NCAA Tournament, but it’s really, really, hard.”