On a night where points are hard to come by the team that puts together a run or two typically notches the “W” and the homestanding Red Raiders of Mechanicville managed to do just that, in posting the 53-35 victory over Cambridge.

Defense was the theme of the first period to say the least, as the two squads played four minutes of scoreless basketball, before Devin Garland connected on a triple for Mechanicville.

The Raiders would add just one more point before quarter’s end on a Josh Germain free throw, while Cambridge matched their hosts with a Brian Hall floater and a Nick Murphy transition bucket and the teams headed to the second period tied at 4-4.

Midway through the frame Raider guard Anthony Attala scored on a three and a floater on back to back possessions giving Mechanicville a 11-6 advantage.

The Raiders closed the quarter with a 7-2 run, five points coming from junior Luciano D’Ambro on three free throws and a deuce, and Mechanicville held an 18-10 lead at the half.

Mechanicville, just as they closed the half, started the third with a 7-2 spurt on a triple by Josh Germain, a pair of free throws from Tyler Dion and a D’Ambro jump hook, giving the Raiders a 25-12 cushion with 5:45 remaining in the period.

But it was the visitors turn to go on a run of their own,  scoring 11 unanswered courtesy of the long ball.

Point guard Kaedin Ogilvie got things started with a triple from the top, and after a  transition bucket from Murphy,  Hall connected on a pair from deep that pulled the Indians to within two at 25-23 with 3:00 left in the quarter.

The Raiders took a timeout and responded.

Sophomore Tyler Eiseman with six points and Germain with five led the Raiders on a 12-4 run to finish the period and build their lead back to 37-27 heading to the final stanza.

In the fourth Mechanicville slowly pulled away from the Indians building a 20 point advantage midway through the quarter with Eiseman, Attala and D’Ambro all scoring points in a 14-3 run that put the game in the Raider win column.

Hall with 11 points and Murphy with 10 led Cambridge, who with the loss drop to 1-5 on the season.

D’Ambro finished with 13 points with Attala and Eiseman added 11 each to lead the Red Raiders who move to 7-1 on the year with the “W”.