The Benilde-St. Margaret’s boys basketball team loves to run, and run it did on Friday night, using its transition offense to beat Totino-Grace 86-68 in a North Suburban Conference game.

With the game knotted at 14 midway through the first half, the Red Knights went on an 11-0 run and never looked back.

After the team traded baskets for several minutes, Totino-Grace began to miss shots, and Benilde-St. Margaret’s was able to grab rebounds and get the ball up court before the Eagles’ defense could get set.

“Our game is predicated on getting (the ball) out and fast-breaking,” said Red Knights’ coach John Moore, whose team is now 9-3 overall and 5-0 in conference play.

The Red Knights capitalized on their size advantage inside in the first half, getting 12 points from center Kyle Washington and eight from forward Myles Barnes to take a 43-27 lead into halftime.

“When you have Kyle, who’s 6'-7", and Myles at 6’6” and Sanjay (Lumpkin) who’s 6’6”, most teams aren’t used to that kind of size,” Moore said.

Totino-Grace coach Keven Seim was well-aware of the Red Knights’ multitude of weapons.

“Washington was really tough in the first half,” he said. "He's long and athletic. (In the second half) we forced him off his spot, doing what we should have done in the first half."

Washington scored just three points in the second half to finish the game with 15.

But that didn’t bother the Red Knights, as Lumpkin shined in the second, when he scored 15 of his game-high 21.

“He wasn’t really on from the perimeter,” Seim said. “He was able to get to the bucket and the free-throw line.”

But the Red Knights didn’t just get scoring from their front-court. Guards Isaiah Zierden and Will Dunn each had 19 points, as five players scored in double figures (Barnes finished with 10).

The Eagles (8-5 overall, 4-2 in conference play) also had five double-figure scorers, led by guard Sam Meyer’s 16, but they just couldn’t stop the Red Knights on Friday.

“To be honest with you, I don’t think our offense was much of an issue,” Seim said. “Sixty-eight points is enough to win most ballgames. It seems like they’re just struggling keeping teams out of the paint.”

UP NEXT

The Red Knights play Cretin-Derham Hall at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday in the West Gym at Minnetonka High School. The game is part of the day-long Breakdown Sports Boys Tip-Off Classic, which was rescheduled because of the Dec. 11 snowstorm.