Will Cranston-Lown scores 37pts as Maitland Mustangs beat Canberra in GF replay

The 22-year-old was dynamic as he scored 37 points in a 75-70 victory at the Belconnen Basketball Stadium.

The win will go some way to avenging last year's 76-73 loss to the Canberra Gunners in the inaugural NBL 1 East grand final.

Coach Luke Boyle was full of praise for his star player.

"He was unbelievable on Saturday just really controlled the game and it's the first time we've probably played through a player in a long time because we have a fair bit of depth on the team," he said.

"He just did a great job for us, created his own opportunities really and doing it at both ends of the floor as well.

"Overall I would say that as a team we defended really well but from an offensive point of view we didn't actually execute that great."

Boyle said it was nice for the team to rely on Cranston-Lown creating pick and roll opportunities and not be reliant on running plays.

In a seesawing affair the Mustangs started slowly, falling behind 21-10 at the end of the first quarter before restricting the Gunners to 28 points over the next two quarters.

Leading 60-49 heading into the final term the Mustangs were able to hold off a fast finishing Canberra leading by one point in the dying minutes before hitting some vital free throws to seal the win.

Maitland were unable to back up their win on Sunday, going down to the Centre of Excellence 101 to 97 in over time at the AIS Basketball Centre.

Boyle said while it was a tough assignment playing last year's winners and then backing up against the top of the table Centre of Excellence he was disappointed not to get a result.

After trailing early Maitland bounced back in the third quarter to lead 75 to 67 heading into the final period.

However both sides were unable to convert opportunities in the dying stages - Maitland had possession in the last 10 seconds but Cranston-Lown was unable to land his jump shot forcing the game into overtime tied at 87.

"That team is used to beating a lot of teams especially in our league by 20 and 30 and to be honest we thought we had them up until the end, they hit a couple of big shots right towards the end of the fourth and it ended up being a tied game," Boyle said.

"We had our opportunities too, even in overtime but we just didn't convert, we just didn't hit the shot, they were good shots, they looked good but we didn't get the outcome we wanted."

Boyle said it was important to note the team was without star big man James Hunter, Jack Edwards and Jay Cole, relying on a promising crop of youngsters.

"The young fellas who we brought away with us from the youth league really filled their role," he said.

"Will Mortimore was great, he was a standout defensively and same with Luka (Ashton Vea) as well.

"Both of those guys are 18-years-old so it was good for those guys to compete against those young fellas on Sunday too."

Boyle expects he will have some hard decisions to make around team selection once he welcomes back the three senior players.

Hunter and Cole are expected to return as the Mustangs near full strength for this Sunday's clash at home against Norths Bears.