As quickly as Boston College stormed out to a 3-0 start, the Eagles have now dropped three straight, including two at the hands of regional rival Rhode Island.

BC flew down to Daytona Beach, Florida, this past weekend for the Sunshine Slam, an early-season tournament that featured four teams: BC, Utah, Tulsa and URI.

The Eagles played back-to-back days and were competitive, trailing by four points or fewer with under a minute to go in both games, but couldn’t get the job done.

Jaeden Zackery scored five of the Eagles’ first seven points. It was a sign of what was to come. The freshman JUCO transfer led the team with 15 points in the defeat while shooting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. He accounted for half of BC’s 3-pointers Saturday night. After the weekend, 3-pointers account for just 23.7% of the Eagles’ scoring output, which ranks 307th nationally.

Piloted by the guard pairing of David Jenkins Jr. and Both Gach, Utah clung to a three-point lead throughout a good portion of the first half. But BC closed the period on a 10-2 run, thanks to 3-pointers from Zackery and center Quinten Post—who got his second consecutive start at the five—as well as a pair of layups from TJ Bickerstaff and DeMarr Langford Jr.

The Eagles took a 32-30 lead into the break, at which point Jenkins and Zackery were tied for a game-high 10 points.

Zackery continued to his torrid start with five points before the first media timeout in the second half. Unfortunately for the Eagles, though, that would be the end of his scoring efforts Saturday night. And, in those early minutes of the final frame, Utah strung together a stretch where the Utes went 5-of-6 from the field to regain the lead and stake themselves to a 43-39 advantage.

BC didn’t score for the next five minutes. Utah didn’t have much luck, either, however, freshman Lazar Stefanovic pitched in a self-made 5-0 run to up the Utes’ lead to 48-41. The Eagles worked their way back into the game, courtesy of a Langford dunk and a Fred Scott 3-pointer.

That’s when Utah center Branden Carlson started to make his impact known. First, he banked a triple off the glass. Then, with Utah leading, 59-54, with close to two minutes remaining, the 7-foot center rejected a Makai Ashton-Langford layup. Shortly after, he threw down a vicious two-handed flush, made possible by a nice pass from Marco Anthony in the paint.

A jumper from Langford, who finished with just eight points, cut the Eagles’ deficit to 64-61 with 24 ticks left. But Battin Riley iced the game at the line with four straight free throws.

It’s not often that you play a non-conference opponent twice in the same season. In fact, it was just the second time the Eagles had ever met a regular season opponent in an in-season tournament (the last time was against Holy Cross in 2001). That’s how the Eagles wrapped their weekend down south, though.

It marked the first game this year where Earl Grant’s BC allowed an opponent to break the 70-point threshold.

Except, unlike the teams’ last meeting, URI didn’t quite suffocate the paint. The Rams had only two blocks, as opposed to their 13 earlier in the week. And BC shot the ball better, converting 43.8% of its shots, including 7-of-19 from downtown.

URI enjoyed even more success from deep. The Rams were 11-of-21 from 3-point land. And it was a Malik Martin triple that jumpstarted a 10-0 run that vaulted the Rams to a 31-18 lead, which turned into a 34-24 halftime advantage.

URI soon ballooned BC’s deficit to 15 with a 7-0 surge at the start of the second half. Jeremy Sheppard, Ishmael El-Amin, and Antwan Walker who combined for 40 in the game, were behind it.

Just when it appeared as if BC was down for the count, Zackery and James Karnik ignited a 14-2 BC run. Zackery led all scorers with 19 points, and Karnik notched a 15-13 double-double in his first start since BC’s win over Fairfield.

The Eagles were mounting a comeback and suddenly only trailing, 46-43, with 9:21 left. Except an El-Amin 3-pointer was just what the Rams needed to build a cushion that they’d never give up.

BC got back within six, five and even four points in the waning minutes, but URI had an answer every time. Twice, it was Sheppard from long range. And Ashton-Langford’s 3-pointer that made it 66-62 with 33 seconds remaining was followed up by a Makhel Mitchell dunk.

Sheppard put the game and mini series away at the charity stripe, sending BC back to Chestnut Hill with a 3-3 record.