IWU Wins Title; Mangas Named MVPSIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Kyle Mangas capped his freshman season at Indiana Wesleyan University in championship form Tuesday night.
The former Warsaw Community High School basketball standout scored a team-high 23 points, lifting the Wildcats to an 84-71 win over Crossroads League rival University of St. Francis in the NAIA DII men’s national championship game.
Mangas, who was named the 32-team tournament’s Most Valuable Player, netted 15 points in the first half and was among five IWU players to score in double figures.
Evan Maxwell, a 6-foot-10 transfer from Kansas University, tallied 20 points and eight rebounds in the win, while Jacob Johnson scored 14 points, and Grant Smith and Canaan Coffey finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Wildcats won the national title for the third time in five years – winning titles in 2014, 16 & 18 – and joined conference rival Bethel, Cornerstone (Mich.) and Oregon Tech as the only schools to win three NAIA DII men’s national titles.
IWU finished the season with a 31-7 record and won the regular season Crossroads League title, as well as the league tournament.
The Cougars, who won the national title in 2010, ended the 2017-18 campaign with a 29-9 record – with four of the losses to the Wildcats.
Tuesday’s title tilt was a rematch of the 2016 tournament final.
Former Columbia City High School standout Derek Hinen scored 24 points and grabbed five rebounds for St. Francis in his final collegiate game.
Bryce Lienhoop tallied 17 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
Former Carroll star Chandler White and Connor Lautzenheiser chipped in with nine points each, while Evan Henry finished with eight points.
Tuesday’s championship game featured 20 players from the Hoosier State, and both teams’ coach – IWU’s Greg Tonagel and St. Francis’ Chad LaCross – were Indiana All-Stars during their prep careers.
Tonagel starred at LaPorte High School, while LaCross was a standout at East Noble and lost his final high school game 42-41 to Kevin Ault and the Warsaw Tigers in the 1996 semistate.
It was a different Warsaw Tiger that got the best of LaCross’ team this year – the 6-foot-3 Mangas, an Indiana All-Star himself.
In four games against St. Francis, Mangas scored 40, 24, 25 and 23 points.
In just his freshman season, Mangas averaged 21.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and three assists per game.
He set a school record for points in a season with 818, breaking the old mark of 756.
Mangas was also named the Crossroads League Player of the Year, the only freshman to ever garner the award.
