AN undermanned St Mary’s Orange has held off Barber Boys White by 13 points in the Div 1 Men’s grand final on Tuesday night.

It was an even start with White building a 4-2 lead, before the Saints got rolling through Charlie Field, who hit back-to-back three-pointers to give Orange the first lead of the game, with Archie Porter then adding his own maximum to see the Saints move clear on the scoreboard.

Charlie Alexander also had an impact, with Jack Jennings helping the Saints to a 22-17 half time lead.

Tight defence was also pivotal in the first half for Orange, which continued after the break, with Barber Boys White unable to create any flow on the court.

Nathan Hardingham tried to drag White back into the contest, but Orange went on to win, 49-36.

Jennings put up a game-high 17 points for Orange to claim game MVP honours, while Hardingham finished with 13 points for Barber Boys White.

The premiers went into the game missing key personnel, and St Mary’s Orange coach, Adam Jennings said the way the team battled against an experienced opponent was impressive.

“They won, we won, they won, we won, so it has been a bit of an arm wrestle,” he said.

“They probably have been the best side all year, so we did bring our best game out on the grand final – undermanned too with four or five key injuries.

“We said before the game that we had nothing to lose, undermanned and just wanted to go out there and have some fun.”

Orange had a spread of contributors, and the St Mary’s coach credited Field and Jennings for the way they went about the game.

“He (Field) is a big game player, he has had a couple of big grand finals and when his shots are going in, we are playing well,” he said.

“Jack is the barometer, but it is not usually through his scoring, it is through his defence and his leadership and tonight he was lucky enough to have a few shots go down tonight.”

With Barber Boys White taking in the likes of Morgan Newns and Hardingham, the size difference was evident, with the Saints backing their system to restrict the influence of the bigs.

“We had to take a risk, we collapsed down on their big guys and sent two or three players to them and made them pass out to the three-point line,” Jennings said.

“We were probably lucky tonight, they are a very good shooting team and they didn’t hit those shots when they got the ball out.”