On Friday night, 20-point performances by Mangas (22) and Evan Maxwell (21) helped lead the Wildcats to an 85-75 victory over Ohio Christian.
The Wildcats got off to a roaring start, connecting on their first 10 shots of the contest to build a 26-16 lead in the first five minutes.
Ohio Christian battled back to tie the game early in the second half, but Smith and Maxwell helped spark an 11-0 run to give the Wildcats a 66-55 lead they would relinquish.
“They came at us and we told the guys you will continue to get everyone’s best shot,” Tonagel said. “We need to learn to go on the road and have the right mentality. We couldn’t have played better offensively in the first half and worse defensively. In the second half, we couldn’t play worse offensively but we played really well defensively. It is all about mentality for us.”
Smith finished with 12 points, while Joel Okafor matched a career-high with seven rebounds in the victory.
