Indiana Wesleyan freshman Kyle Mangas scored 40 points Saturday to lead his team past No. 2 Saint Francis in overtime. Mangas starred at WCHS (Photo courtesy of the IWU Athletics Website)

MARION – Kyle Mangas has always been at his best at the biggest basketball moments.

Such was the case once again for the former Warsaw star cager on Saturday.

Mangas poured in 40 points in an incredible performance to lead Indiana Wesleyan past Saint Francis 89-82 in overtime in a huge Crossroads League clash of titans.

The phenomenal Wildcat freshman scored 33 points in the second half and overtime as the No. 7 Wildcats upended the No. 2 Cougars in front a packed house some 2,000 strong in Luckey Arena.

The luckiest person on Saturday was once again IWU coach Greg Tonagel, the wise man who landed the under recruited Mangas despite a stellar prep career at WCHS.

“What a game,” said Tonagel on the IWU athletics website about the effort of his star player. “Nobody has ever scored 40 in my 15 years here, let alone against the No. 2 team in the country who is pretty stout defensively.

“He is always in control, he makes good decisions and he makes tough shots. He makes them from all over. He does it from the outside, he does it from the inside and he drives it. He is a special kid.”

The clutch and consistent freshman guard was more than special Saturday.

How about extraordinary.

Mangas hit on 13-22 shots from the field, including 4-12 from 3-point range. He went 10-11 from the free throw line, running his streak of consecutive tosses made to 21 before missing his final one of the game. He also had four rebounds and two assists in 40 minutes on the floor.

Mangas outburst was the most points scored by an IWU player since Bruce Smith went for a program record 44 back in 1991 versus IU Kokomo.

Just how good was the former Indiana All-Star?

Mangas scored 29 points over the final 15 minutes of the contest and tallied 24 in a row for his team from the 9:37 mark of the second half until 4:49 remained in overtime.

The Wildcats needed every play by Mangas to notch the huge conference win. Saint Francis erased a five-point deficit in the game’s final 18.8 seconds in regulation play, tying the game at 73-73 to force overtime on a 3-pointer at the final horn by Derek Hinen. Hinen, a senior for the Cougars, played at Columbia City High School.

Mangas eclipsed his previous collegiate career high of 34 points from an 89-71 win over Marian back in December. His all-time career high of 47 points came in a 61-59 double overtime win over East Chicago Central in a regional semifinal game his senior season.

Mangas, who was the Ink Free News Player of the Year both as a junior and a senior, finished fourth in WCHS history with 1,450 career points. He was the 11th Warsaw player to earn a spot on the Indiana All-Star team and his 633 points scored during his senior year in 2016-17 ranks fifth all-time at WCHS.

The Wildcats, whose win snapped a 16-game Saint Francis winning streak, improve to 15-5 overall and move to 6-2 in conference play. Saint Francis falls to 17-3 overall and still leads the league at 7-1.

Mangas, the son of Tim and Ann Mangas, leads the Wildcats in scoring at 21.4 points-per-game. He is also averaging 5.1 rebounds per game and leads IWU in both assists with 59 and 3-pointers with 44.

IWU hosts Grace College Tuesday night in another Crossroads League contest.