Mangas Powers IWU To Tourney Title Game
MARION – Kyle Mangas knows a thing or two about playing for a championship.
He will get another chance to compete for one come Tuesday night.
Mangas made sure that his Indiana Wesleyan University men’s basketball will play a league tournament title with yet another impressive performance Saturday.
The former Warsaw star poured in 26 points as No. 5 IWU topped Huntington 90-77 in a semifinal game of the Crossroads League Tournament at IWU.
IWU, the top seed in the tourney, will host No. 2 seed Saint Francis (25-7) Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the tourney finale. No. 8 ranked Saint Francis defeated Mount Vernon Nazarene 87-73 in the other semifinal Saturday in Fort Wayne.
Freshman guard Mangas hit 11-18 shots Saturday, including 3-6 from distance. He was 1-1 from the free throw line and had two rebounds and two assists in 37 minutes.
Mangas led Warsaw to three straight Northern Lakes Conference championships and back-to-back Class 4-A sectional titles during his prolific prep career.
The Wildcats, who improve to 25-7, led 28-14 before Huntington rallied to tie the game at 30-30. IWU led 39-34 at halftime. The hosts were up just 77-71 with five minutes to play before using a 13-4 run to finish the victory.
IWU had a huge 23-2 scoring edge in points off turnovers in the contest.
Mangas, who was an Indiana All-Star in 2017, entered play Saturday leading the Wildcats in scoring at 21.5 points-per-game.