Kent State men's basketball: Golden Flashes upset St. Bonaventure in NIT first round

Some are calling this year's National Invitation Tournament a second Atlantic 10 tourney because of the conference's six NIT participants.

Well, the Mid-American Conference announced its presence Tuesday when Kent State rallied past host St. Bonaventure of the Atlantic 10 for a 75-56 NIT first-round victory.

The Golden Flashes (23-11) made 50% of their shots from deep to secure their first postseason victory since 2014-2015, when they reached the CIT quarterfinals.

The Flashes advanced to play the winner of Cal State Northridge and Stanford this weekend.

Not that things came easily at the Reilly Center.

Down 7-0, 13-2 and 22-12, the Flashes battled back to take the lead at halftime, relying largely on their strong post play.

After halftime, KSU caught fire from deep, making 8 of 11. A number of those 3-pointers came in transition as the Flashes capitalized on misses by the Bonnies to rattle off a 14-0 run early in the second half. That included Jalen Sullinger's nasty pull-up 3-pointer from deep in the left wing to put KSU up 35-31.

VonCameron Davis added back-to-back 3-pointers, one off a beautiful baseline drive-and-dish from Sullinger, as the Flashes pushed their lead to double digits.

KSU was in firm control from there, helped by its sizable advantage (46-29) on the glass. It didn't help St. Bonaventure that its rotation was down to six players because of injuries. The Bonnies (22-12) only went beyond those six players in the final minute when the game was clearly out of hand.

Seven players scored at least six points for the Golden Flashes, with Davis (14 points), Delrecco Gillespie (12), Sullinger (11) and Cli'ron Hornbeak (11) all in double digits. Hornbeak and Gillespie also dominated the glass with 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively, including three offensive boards apiece.

KSU also did a nice job contesting St. Bonaventure on its drives to the basket, holding the Bonnies to 34.4% shooting from the field.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: NIT men's basketball: Kent State upsets St. Bonaventure in opener

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