Richmond Leader

UNIFIED AND BATTLE-TESTED, RAMS EXIT NON-CONFERENCE PLAY WITH WIN STREAK

 "Tough and together."
 
It's how VCU sophomore guard Nick Kern Jr. described the month of December for VCU Basketball. A month that saw the Rams open with a pair of losses, but finish with a season-high four straight wins, capped by Wednesday night's 74-52 thumping of Navy to finish non-conference play.
 
"The best way to have momentum going into league play is to take momentum into the holiday break, and we have done that and I'm really proud of the guys," said VCU Head Coach Mike Rhoades.
 
"After the Jacksonville game I called the team out on a few things, and let the guys know that we need to learn and mature, and part of that is having ownership of where you are and move on from there. Tonight's game was a good one in the right direction, but I think this team can get a lot better."
 
VCU's streak began with a 70-60 win over Howard (Dec. 11) and since then the Rams have knocked off Radford 70-62 (Dec. 14) and Northern Illinois 90-63 (Dec. 17) to go along with Wednesday night's win over Navy. The streak has built confidence among the team and staff, a good place to be with Atlantic 10 play kicking off on New Year's Eve.
 
"I feel like we are the best team in the A-10," said sophomore forward Jalen DeLoach. "Coach has told us that most people don't think we can win the league. So, we come out every night looking to prove them wrong."
 
Tonight's game against Navy was almost a snapshot of the season. The Rams navigated adversity early, stayed together and showed the toughness they feel they've developed the past four weeks.
 
"I love the adversity we have gone through and learned from," said Rhoades. "You play good teams to create the adversity, so we can learn from it because we will have a lot of that in conference play. We have really improved throughout December, and we want to see that continue into January."
 
Down 20-7 early in the first half, VCU erupted for a 23-7 run to flip the game's momentum. When VCU junior Ace Baldwin Jr. hit a three-pointer at the 4:51 minute mark, the Rams took the lead 30-27 and never looked back. The Rams closed the first half with a 30-10 blitz.
 
"I think we are more together now," said Kern Jr. "During the streak we have continued to come together more and more as we grow. We have just kept going, look at tonight, we were down by almost 20 points and we kept pushing and fighting together."
 
Using a 15-3 run out of the break, VCU pulled away from Navy and halfway through the second half. Following back-to-back baskets from redshirt sophomore Jamir Watkins and junior guard Zeb Jackson, the Rams pushed their lead to 55-38.
 
VCU was never seriously threatened again and continued to build momentum by securing a fourth straight win. It's momentum the Rams now carry into the holiday break, with A-10 play squarely in the sights.
 
The Rams will take the break to reenergize and focus on conference play, which gets started on Dec. 31 when La Salle visits the Stuart C. Seigel Center. When those games get going, the A-10 will see a Rams team that night in and night out plays tough and together.
 
The last four games have proven that.
  

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