OLEAN, N.Y. (WIVB) — A season that began better than most any other in St. Bonaventure's basketball history came to a disappointing conclusion Tuesday night at Reilly Center. After jumping out to a double-digit lead in the opening minutes, Bona got blown out on their home floor 75-56 by Kent St ate in the opening round of the NIT. The Bonnies finish their season with a 22-12 record, winning more than 20 games for the seventh time in the past 14 seasons. But two months ago, the team had greater ambitions. Starting with the introduction of famous journalism school alumnus Adrian Wojnarowski as the program's general manager, and the best early record (14-1) in 55 years garnering them votes just outside the AP Top 25, Bona was bubbling into NCAA tournament consideration after beating Atlantic 10 champion VCU in its conference opener. But a 3-8 stretch at midseason put even their NIT prospects in jeopardy before Bona finished the regular season with a 4-1 stretch and beat Duquesne in its A-10 tournament opener preceding a quarterfinal loss to VCU. Overall, the Bonnies were 10-10 against league opponents, and 12-2 out of conference. Returning to the NIT field was significant for the Bonnies after they turned down an invitation last March. The fallout from that decision led to the resignation of athletic director Joe Manhertz. St. Bonaventure was playing in the NIT for the 18th time in history, and first since making a run to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden in 2022. This was the third NIT game at Reilly Center, where Bona beat Southern Mississippi in 1995, and lost against Wagner as a No. 1 seed in 2016. The Bonnies scored on their first five possessions to go ahead 12-2 and compel Kent State to call timeout within the first four minutes. But the Golden Flashes evened the score with their own 12-2 spurt late in the first half, and then pulled away with a 14-point run shortly after halftime. *** Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here. ...read more read less