By BRENDAN MCGAIR

Sports writer

Rakim Sanders didn’t want to dwell on the momentous feat Boston College pulled off Sunday evening, when BC bagged the Moby Dick of college hoops programs in North Carolina. And on the hallowed Dean Dome hardwood nonetheless.
To Sanders, a Pawtucket native, the victory over the no longer unblemished Tar Heels is over and done with. The page was turned way prior to touching back down on the Chestnut Hill campus.
“It felt good, but as soon as we got back guys were in the gym getting up shots,” said Sanders via cell phone Monday afternoon.
The businessman-like vibe Sanders gives off sounds as if the Eagles expected to go toe-to-toe with the Tar Heels. By the time the final horn sounded over 21,000 powder blue fans were confronted with a stunning reality, that a team pegged to finish 11th  (out of 12 schools) in the ACC had just hushed them up. Boston College sent shockwaves throughout the college basketball landscape with an 85-78 win, Sanders right in the upset mix with 22 points, six rebounds and seven steals.
Perhaps it was Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan who brilliantly captured in his Monday piece what Sanders and the Eagles were up against and how they did not waver. Ryan wrote “(Sanders) let Carolina know very early that he was not impressed with its pedigree.” All the banners and the Carolina Crazies weren’t about to intimidate the Eagles, who one year earlier absorbed a 91-69 thumping on Tobacco Road.
Sanders admitted there was an “us against them” mentality on the BC bench. “We couldn’t worry about what the refs or fans were doing,” he said. “All we had each other and the coaches.”
You have to trace back to last season’s contest at Conte Forum between the Heels and Eagles to understand just how far BC, in particular Sanders, has matured in a basketball-sense. BC senior Tyrese Rice single-handily tried to bring down UNC, but the guard’s 46-point outpouring was not enough as BC went from being comfortably ahead by 17 points to losing by 10.
While Rice’s scoring outburst failed to cover up was the lack of help (or not enough trust of his teammates) available at that moment. No other Eagle reached double figures, Sanders scored just four points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Rice once again shouldered the scoring burden Sunday, but this time he didn’t have to go berserk. His game-high 25 points looked much better because Rice had help, or simply that he trusts his mates more. Whatever the conclusion, Boston College put on the record that there’s more than Rice to contend with, Sanders right at the top of the list.
BC rode Sanders’ coattails the entire first half, a 20-minute stretch which saw him torch UNC for 18 points. The Tar Heels simply had no answers for Sanders’ blend of fearless penetration/shooting, which has been his m.o. since his days at St. Andrew’s in Barrington.
“Rice just kept giving me looks and I kept using the screens,” said Sanders about what was clicking. “I’m usually taller than a lot of the guys that guard me.”
Sanders said the Eagles’ confidence grew as their lead swelled to 15 points in the second half. BC’s strategy of deliberately bringing the tempo to a grinding halt was not sitting well with a North Carolina unit that likes to wipe its opponents off the floor.
“Not too many teams want to guard the flex,” said Sanders, noting BC head coach Al Skinner’s longstanding offensive scheme.
While Sanders was cooking offensively, his defense was also in high gear. North Carolina’s Wayne Ellington, who spent most of the game chasing Sanders, received a shock when Sanders came out of nowhere to disrupt what would have been an easy two, one of two blocks Sanders recorded.
Though it’s taken some time and the journey has been fraught with typical ups and downs, Sunday’s spectacle shows that perhaps Sanders has harnessed both ends of the hardwood. No longer is his defense lagging behind his offense, a big reason why Sanders didn’t hesitate to say he enjoyed his finest game at North Carolina’s expense.
But there’s still room for improvement.  “I had one of my better games defensively, though my defensive rebounding could improve,” said Sanders, who received a congratulatory message from high school coach, Mike Hart, on Sunday night.
The Eagles reaped the benefits from their Carolina Conquest, going from unnoticed to 17th in the AP poll and No. 24 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. The overnight attention suits Sanders fine, for he believes the payoff of toppling a giant can only assist moving forward.
“We’re a young team, so this gives us all the confidence in the world,” said Sanders.