SPRING ARBOR, MI – Former Warsaw stars Paul Marandet and Kyle Mangas, as expected, each played a huge part in the Spring Arbor versus Indiana Wesleyan men’s basketball game Saturday.

Score round one of the Crossroads League clash to Marandet and Spring Arbor.

Marandet’s defense late in the game on former teammate Mangas helped the host Cougars claim an 83-81 league victory.

No. 13 Spring Arbor trailed late before rallying to edge the No. 7 Wildcats in a key conference showdown.

Marandet, a stellar sophomore guard for the Cougars, came up with the defensive play of the game when he stripped the ball from a driving Mangas.

Drew Zuidema drained a pair of free throws with 9.4 seconds to play to give Spring Arbor the lead. Mangas then missed a shot at the final buzzer, which was well-defended by Marandet.

The game, which IWU led 40-36 at halftime, featured nine ties and nine lead changes. Both teams shot lights out from the field with Spring Arbor hitting on 29-52 shots, including 10-14 from distance, and IWU going 32-53. The hosts had six players score in double figures, while five players tallied 10 or more points for IWU.

Mangas, a fabulous freshman guard for the Wildcats, poured in a game-high 24 points. He was his usual efficient self by going 10-16 from the field, including 3-5 from 3-point range. Mangas, who is averaging better than 21 points-per-game, played 36 minutes. He has scored 20 or more points in five straight games and is averaging 25 ppg. in league play.

Marandet scored 14 points and posted a double-double with 10 assists. He drained 8-9 free throws in the win and played 34 minutes for the Cougars. Marandet is averaging 18 points and six assists per contest.

Mangas and Marandet combined as teammates to lead Warsaw to Class 4-A sectional and regional championships as a stellar guard tandem during the 2015-16 season.

Spring Arbor, which was coming off a conference loss to No. 2 Saint Francis, improves to 18-4 overall and goes to 6-4 in league play. IWU, which had beaten Grace in overtime in league play Tuesday night, falls to 16-6 overall and sits at 7-3 in Crossroads League action.

The two teams will face off again at IWU on Feb. 17 at 3 p.m.

Spring Arbor hosts Taylor and IWU plays at Goshen College in conference games Tuesday night.