Ram fans packed the Stu in VCU’s third straight sellout in hopes of sending off seniors Joey Rodriguez, Brandon Rozzell, Ed Nixon and Jamie Skeen the right way.
VCU also happened to be looking to snap a 3-game CAA losing streak in the process.
The Rams played like everything was on the line today, but ultimately came up short as they extended their conference losing streak to four games in a 72-69 loss to JMU.
Nixon, known more for his defensive prowess, heated up early for the black-and-gold, hitting three straight 3-pointers for the Rams.
Jamie Skeen chipped in 12 first half points of his own as the Rams looked to keep pace with a hot shooting JMU team, but headed into the half with a 43-41 disadvantage.
The Rams found themselves in a familiar position at the half, trailing in the rebounding category 20 – 15, and eventually lost that  battle, 36-30.
The glass has been a consistent sore spot for the Rams in this consistently inconsistent season.
Skeen led all scorers with 20 points on the afternoon, Burgess right behind with 17 of his own.
The Rams have gone on an almost unprecedented run of 3-straight home losses.
On a positive note, even with the loss the Rams had previously locked up the fourth seed heading into next weekend’s tournament, and avoid having to become the first team to win four straight tournament games to win a CAA tournament title and NCAA automatic bid.
VCU will have it’s first first round bye of the Shaka Smart era, after finishing fifth just a season ago.
The road to VCU’s first CAA Championship since 2009 will be a brutal one however, as the Rams would most likely face Drexel, George Mason, and Old Dominion (if favorites win out), which coincidentaly are three of the four teams that contributed to VCU’s recent streak of losses.
