BY: SAM WEILERT AND SEAN WALLACE; STAFF WRITERS
Photo: Joseph DeBell / The Bona Venture
Coming off a quarterfinals loss to VCU in the Atlantic 10 Championship, the Bonnies fell to the Kent State Golden Flashes 75-56 in the first round of the NIT Tuesday night in the Reilly Center.
Bonaventure started the first six minutes with a 16-4 lead, but Kent State finished the half on a 25-12 run to take a 29-28 lead.
Over a five-possession stretch at the start of the second half, Kent State flipped a Bonnies’ 31-29 lead into a 14-0 run. The Golden Flashes did not miss from deep, making four threes.
Senior guard Chance Moore led the Bonnies in points with 16, shooting 64% from the field. Tallying five rebounds and two assists, Moore finished 10th among the A-10 in rebounds and led the team with 202.
Redshirt senior forward VonCameron Davis led the Golden Flashes in points with 14, shooting 50% from the field. Davis, who finished fourteenth in points per game in the MAC with 14.6, recorded five rebounds and an assist.
The Bonnies entered the game with the fourth-worst offensive efficiency rating and the second-worst 3-point percentage in the A-10 this season at 31%. Offensive efficiency can be interpreted as the points per 100 possessions better than average expected when playing against an average Division I team. They shot 34% from the field and 30% from three.
The Golden Flashes entered the tournament with the third-worst 3-point percentage in the MAC this season at 32%. However, the difference between shooting efficiencies played a major factor in the game’s outcome. The Golden Flashes shot 51% from the field and 50% from three.
The Bonnies excelled in turnovers allowed ranking third to last among the A-10 this season, averaging 10 a game. On the other hand, the Golden Flashes ranked third among the MAC in forced turnovers, averaging 13 a game. The Bonnies scored 15 points off 16 forced turnovers and the Golden Flashes scored 11 off of nine.
Thriving in rebounding all season, the Golden Flashes finished third in the MAC with 37 per game. The Bonnies averaged 34 per game this season, finishing third worst among the A-10. Kent State took advantage of Bonaventure’s weakness, out-rebounding the Bonnies 45-27.
Kent State also maintained a defensive efficiency rating of 3.0, the highest in the MAC this season. Defensive efficiency can be interpreted as the defensive points per 100 possessions better than average expected when playing against an average Division I team.
Kent State will play Stanford in the second round of the NIT Sunday, as the Bonnies finish their season with a 22-12 record.
