ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball season will continue as the Bonnies have accepted a bid to play in the 2025 NIT.

Even better: Bonnies fans will get at least one more shot to catch the home team inside the Reilly Center as Bona’s has picked up a selection to host an opening-round contest.

St. Bonaventure earned an at-large berth into the NIT and a date with Kent State. The Bonnies and Golden Flashes will tip off at 7 p.m. Tuesday in The RC. The game will air nationally on ESPNU.

Tickets for the first-round game will go on sale at 9 a.m. today. Season ticket holders will be able to purchase tickets via their online account.

Student ticket information will be available this afternoon.

Bona’s put together a postseason resume with a 22-11 overall record and will be the No. 3 seed in the NIT’s San Francisco Region. The winner of Tuesday’s game will advance to face the winner of the first-round matchup between No. 2 seed Stanford and CSUN. Other teams in the Bonnies bracket include top seed San Francisco (24-9), which will take on Utah Valley (25-8) as well as San Jose State (15-19), which will host Loyola Chicago (22-11).

Kent State finished the season 22-11 as well, recording an 11-7 mark in Mid-American Conference play. The Golden Flashes reached the semifinals of the MAC Tournament this past weekend.

Like the Bonnies, Kent is a veteran-led team with a trio of All-MAC seniors on the roster. VonCameron Davis earned selection to the All-MAC First Team while classmates Jalen Sullinger (Second Team) and Cli’Ron Hornbeak (All-Defensive Team) were also MAC All-Conference honorees.

Games throughout the first, second and quarterfinal rounds are hosted on campus sites. This year’s final four will take place at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis with the semifinals taking place on April 1 and the championship game set for April 3. All games during NIT play are set to be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.

This year’s entry marks the 18th NIT appearance in program history for the Bonnies and first since reaching the semifinals in 2022. That season, the Bonnies went on a memorable run with three straight road victories at Power 4 conference foes. Playing as an unseeded squad, the Bonnies won at Colorado, at top-seeded Oklahoma and at Virginia before falling to eventual champion Xavier in the final four. Bona’s other NIT trips were 1951-52, 1957-60, 1964, 1971, 1977, 1979, 1983, 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2016. St. Bonaventure won the NIT championship in 1977.

Bona last played an NIT home game in 2016 when it was selected as a No. 1 seed and dropped its opening round contest vs. Wagner in front of a sold-out crowd.

St. Bonaventure both started and finished its season strong.

After a 14-1 start, the best for the program since its 1970 NCAA Final Four season, the Bonnies garnered AP Top 25 votes. Injuries took a toll during January and February before the Bonnies found their stride again late in the season by winning four of their last five to wrap up the regular season. SBU defeated Duquesne in the Atlantic 10 Tournament second round before falling to top-seeded VCU in the quarterfinals.

The Bonnies are led by A-10 All-Conference selection Melvin Council Jr. (14.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 135 assists, 69 steals) along with fellow senior guard Chance Moore (12.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and junior Lajae Jones (11.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg). Postseason play will also allow another opportunity for graduate captain Noel Brown (12.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg) to don the Bona jersey.