VCU obtains motivation from last year’s championship loss

Jim Swing
Sports Editor
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A stroll through the VCU locker room Sunday night exerted a uncommon aura considering the circumstances.

The Rams had just dismantled George Mason to the tune of a 74-64 win in the CAA Tournament semifinals, earning a date with Drexel in the title game Monday night. It was a feat that usually warrants at least the tiniest bit of celebration.

Regardless, the mood was dour, and the faces looked unsatisfied.

Questions flooded into players’ ears about last year’s tournament final, where VCU fell to Old Dominion in a game that came down to the wire. Questions about the feeling of watching a championship slip away and its significance to this year’s final.

Junior point guard Darius Theus stared down at his burgundy colored beanie for a couple seconds before looking up and letting out a laugh.

“It’s heartbreaking to lose that last one,” he said. “But it’s a new year, and we’re going to do our best to prepare to win.”

A year ago the Rams had to claw their way out of an 18-point hole against Old Dominion in the title game before closing to within one and eventually falling by five in the closing minutes. At the time, NCAA Tournament hopes were seemingly dashed, and devastation fell over a VCU team that had come so far just to fall so hard.

“It’s rough because last year we thought we had to win to get into the tournament,” senior Bradford Burgess said. “And we were all down, and it hurt.”

The loss left uncertainty surrounding the Rams chances of an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. A year later VCU finds itself in a similar position on the bubble. Freshman guard Briante Weber didn’t experience last year’s loss, for obvious reasons, but is well aware of the severity of the task at hand.

“This is where it starts; this is where that big run came in. They didn’t win it last year but they were pretty close,” Weber said. “I just want to, as a team, I hope we just get a win and go from there.”

The Rams will get a Drexel team that’s currently on a 19-game winning streak and hasn’t experienced a loss dating all the way back to Jan. 2. The Dragons boast a strong and powerful frontcourt that compliments its new and improved group of scoring guards. Drexel defeated VCU by six points in the only regular-season matchup between the two teams in Philadelphia on Jan. 8.

“I told the guys the team that shows a level of toughness mentally and physically more than the other will win,” VCU head coach Shaka Smart said. “And that’s the bottom line.”

As far as the Rams are concerned, you get the sense it’s not the opponent, it’s the game. A missed opportunity a year ago seems fresh on their minds, adding to the hunger of a young team that was deemed fit for a rebuilding year before the season even started.

For VCU, losing a second-consecutive conference championship game is out of the question, and out of mind.

“We experienced that last year,” Burgess said. “And we’re trying to have a different outcome this year.”