Former Warsaw Community High School basketball standouts Kyle Mangas and Dayton Groninger experienced different outcomes for their Indiana Wesleyan University basketball teams in national tournament play Friday.
Mangas, the only freshman ever named Crossroads League Player of the Year, tallied 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the IWU men beat IU Southeast 85-72 in Sioux Falls, S.D., in the second round of the 32-team NAIA DII National Tourney
In the women’s tournament, being played in Sioux City, Iowa, Groninger made one bucket and one free throw for three points as the Lady Wildcats fell 83-63 to No. 1 Southeastern.
IWU finished its women’s season with a 25-9 record, while Southeastern continued its perfect season and improved to 31-0.
Nicole Ignasiak led IWU with 15 points, while Anna Imhoff tallied 12.
Groninger, a 2018 Warsaw grad like Mangas, averaged seven points and four rebounds per game during her first collegiate season.
With his 38 points in the first two games of the national tournament – he scored 21 in an 87-76 win over Antelope Valley Thursday – Mangas has scored 756 points so far during his first collegiate season. Mangas' 756 points ties him atop IWU's single-season scoring list with Lane Mahurin (2016-17).
Mangas got plenty of help from his teammates Friday as the Wildcats improved to 28-7 with their sixth consecutive win.
Six IWU players scored at least nine points in the 13-point victory that advanced the Wildcats to a 7 p.m. quarterfinal tonight.
Evan Maxwell tallied 17 points and eight boards for IWU, while Jacob Johnson and Ben Carlson scored 15 and 10 points, respectively, and Joel Okafor and Canaan Coffey chipped in with nine points each.
Four players scored in double figures for IU Southeast – Joe Jackson (13), Jacob Mills (11), David Burton (10) and Kerry Smith (10).
Crossroads League teams St. Francis and Marian were also in action Friday in the men’s national tourney.
St. Francis beat Northwestern College 94-83 and improved to 27-8 behind 34 points from former Columbia City standout Derek Hinen.
Marian was scheduled to tip off at 10:15 p.m. against Indiana Tech.
