Nearly burned, Eagles learn

Iowa gives them a scare at finish

BC's Rakim Sanders, who had 6 points, gets off a shot over Iowa's Aaron Fuller in the first half last night at Conte Forum. (John Bohn/Globe Staff)

Al Skinner leaned against the scorer's table at Conte Forum last night, staring at a 2-point game that really shouldn't have been that close.

Maybe he wanted to be angry, but he couldn't be.

With less than a second left in the game, the referees blew the whistle for a reason, the reason being that Corey Raji essentially tackled Iowa forward Andrew Brommer about 25 feet from the basket. In Raji's defense, he was basically just throwing out the kitchen sink to protect the 2-point lead.

But that's about the best defense you could mount for him. Which is why, as the officials crowded around the replay monitor, Skinner cracked a little smile.

"He's definitely got to be a little bit smarter about that," said Skinner, "in the sense that, with the clock running down, what are the chances that a guy could have been able to pick the ball up, shoot over you, and make a basket?"

The foul made less sense when you consider that Brommer hadn't taken a shot all game. And sure enough, he clanged the front end of a one-and-one off the rim, ensuring that the 57-55 margin would hold up for the Eagles (5-2).

"You've got to be a little bit smarter about it and know timing and score," Skinner said. "But again, it's a discipline thing, and we can learn from it."

After a win, you can laugh and learn at the same time.

It wasn't a flawless victory for the Eagles.

They rebounded (36 total, 16 offensive), but they didn't capitalize (8 second-chance points).

They got stops (Iowa started the game 0 for 7), but they didn't stretch the lead (the Eagles went up only 6-0).

And truth be told, the Eagles fell into the Hawkeyes' kind of game - the kind that made the halftime score (27-24) look as if each team kicked extra points after every basket.

Iowa (6-2) was giving up just 58.7 points a game and holding opponents to 42.2 percent shooting. The Eagles shot 38.8 percent and finished with their lowest winning score this season.

"I'm always happy to get the win," said Skinner. "There are some things, of course, that I know we'd like to do better. But believe me, I'm never going to be disappointed about a win."

Iowa might be one of the few teams the Eagles face all season with a roster younger than theirs. The Hawkeyes don't have a "best player," just a leading scorer (freshman guard Anthony Tucker), and he was on the bench at crunch time, in part because of illness and in part because of a couple of poorly chosen shots in the first half. Still, the Hawkeyes hung within single digits, thanks to outside shooting.

"We kept making the same mistake," Skinner said. "Chasing the ball, and they're kicking it out, making threes. It's not like we didn't know they were going to do it. Our lack of discipline definitely showed."

Tyrese Rice (game-high 15 points), Biko Paris (5), and Reggie Jackson (6) sparked a stretch that put the Eagles up 11 with 4:45 on the clock just before Rice picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench. Skinner kept his freshmen on the court. Iowa went on an 8-0 run, and suddenly the Eagles were biting their nails.

"We weren't attacking on the fast break and on the secondary break as much as we did to get the lead," said Rice. "We got the lead and we got it up to 11 quick. That just came from attacking the rim, and I think we stopped attacking when I came out of the game."

They found themselves in a position where they had to get stops. That's where Raji came in.

"It wasn't until the last possession that we actually sat down and defended the way we were supposed to and they didn't get the shot they were looking for," Skinner said.

The foul was sort of forgivable.

"It's a bang-bang play," Rice said. "It could have gone either way."

"There's a lot of different ways to win a game," Skinner said. "Normally, you like to do it where you don't have to work as hard, but that's what we needed to do."

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com