URI forces the Eagles to put their guard up

BC's Rakim Sanders (right) had help blocking URI forward Will Daniels's shot in the first half. (John Bohn/Globe Staff)

Boston College junior point guard Tyrese Rice knows when it's time to change the game, and freshman guard Rakim Sanders is beginning to learn.

With 1:02 to play, BC nursed a 2-point lead over the University of Rhode Island in a game in which the lead skittered around like a nervous freshman finding his way around campus. Rice put the ball in the hands of Sanders, a 6-foot-5-inch freshman from Pawtucket, R.I., who stepped squarely into an open spot behind the 3-point line and deftly knocked down the shot to give the Eagles the room they needed. BC went on to a 76-72 victory to push its record to 4-0 and give coach Al Skinner his 200th career victory before 5,432 at Conte Forum. For an added touch, the milestone came against URI, the team Skinner led for nine years before moving on to The Heights.

Rice scored 24 points to lead the Eagles, and Sanders had 21, but the talented guards had to work for every basket.

"[Tyrese] couldn't hit the side of a barn in the first half," said Skinner. "Then in the second, all of a sudden, bang, bang, bang. He's right there, right back at it, and that's because he understands."

Sanders's 8-for-15 effort included four 3-pointers. "He's going to be as effective as any guard I've ever coached," said Skinner. "Right now it's not the physical side - he's got that. It's whether he can develop the mental understanding of what we want to do."

BC trailed by 7 at halftime, its ballhandlers succumbing to the pressure of URI's in-your-face defense. Rice maneuvered the team back. He spent 37 minutes on the court, relentlessly working the offense, going after shots again and again. After shooting 4 for 15 in the first half, including 0 for 4 from 3-point range, he adjusted.

When Sanders opened the second half with a smooth 3-pointer, then scored again from underneath, Rice recognized that Sanders had found his range. Rice began running the offense through him, and soon enough his shots began falling. Rice was 3 for 5 from 3-point range in the second half, including a pair of spectacularly long treys that brought BC within 47-46.

"Rice was the difference maker," said URI coach Jim Baron. "Sanders gave them a spark and the lift they needed, and they made some big shots to keep staying ahead. We wanted to keep up the pressure, but they made some big shots. Rice made some big-time shots. I'd like to see how far they were. We were trying to tire him out, but he didn't buckle."

The Rams stayed with BC as the lead bounced around, but Rice's 3-point play - a spinning jumper that drew the foul - gave BC a 67-64 lead with 3:45 left. Will Daniels responded with a 3-point play that tied it up again, but BC went ahead for good on Biko Paris's running layup. Rice added a 3-pointer but URI converted another layup, leaving a 3-point difference. That's when BC worked the ball to Sanders for the deciding 3-pointer.

The Eagles started with an energetic pace, taking a 17-7 lead with Sanders hitting a pair of 3-pointers. But the Rams (5-1) applied pressure, and BC's attack sputtered.

"We didn't play a Rhody game," said Daniels, who led the Rams with 25 points. "We didn't lock up. We allowed their guys to get open for threes. We didn't shut guys down. They got inside on us."

URI did slow BC in the first half, using a defense that got up close and personal, forcing BC to make mistakes, and springing the Rams for some easy baskets.

"They started scoring a little bit, and we started mishandling in situations," said Skinner. "It's a lack of recognition of what's occurring."

URI climbed back with a 13-2 run and led by Daniels's 13 points, took a 37-30 lead into the break.

Barbara Matson can be reached at matson@globe.com.