RAM-blings as Colonial Athletic Association champ VCU heads into this weekend’s conference tournament:

      * The Rams have been hanging on down the stretch, struggling to beat lower-tier teams in the conference. They need to pick it up if they don’t want to be eliminated early in the conference tournament. Most disturbing is the high shooting percentage opponents have registered in the past eight games. Six of the eight — including the past four — have shot 50 percent or better. In the locker room after VCU survived Georgia State 72-70 Saturday, “The first thing I told ’em was we need to play better,” guard Jesse Pellot-Rosa said. “We can’t go in and play like this.” 

      * Did VCU (16-2) have an easier path than runner-up Old Dominion (15-3) to the conference title? Absolutely. The Rams played No. 3 Hofstra and No. 4 Drexel once each, splitting those games on the road. No. 2 Old Dominion played Hofstra and Drexel twice each, winning three of the four. You can argue that the unbalanced schedule is unfair to somebody every year. That’s just the luck of the draw when you’ve got 12 teams playing 18 conference games. VCU plays its five permanent partners — ODU, James Madison, William and Mary, UNC Wilmington and Georgia State — twice each year, then plays two other teams twice. That pair rotates every two years. The Rams double up with Northeastern and Drexel in four years. Anybody got a crystal ball to determine who will be the strong and weak teams in the league then?

        * Pellot-Rosa made the alert play of the year against Georgia State. Michael Anderson was fouled with 4 seconds left and the Rams clinging to a 68-67 lead. He made his first foul shot. His second, though, bounced to the left of the lane. Georgia State, with no timeouts, had deployed three rebounders and stationed two men in the front court. The Panthers had only one man stationed on the side to which the ball caromed. He was in the low block.
        Pellot-Rosa wasn’t even in the lane. He was standing outside the 3-point line. When the ball came his way, he grabbed it, went straight to the basket and was fouled. He made both the basket and the foul shot, which put VCU ahead by five. That made Leonard Mendez’s 3-pointer at the buzzer moot.
        “I have confidence in my teammates,” Pellot-Rosa said. “But I had a feeling he was going to miss that one. I just inched in. The ball took a great bounce.” 

      * VCU coach Anthony Grant: “I’m proud of what these guys have been able to accomplish. This is a team a lot of people didn’t give a chance to do what they’ve done. They not only won the league, but they set a record for most [conference wins].
        “It means a lot for our entire team, especially for the seniors to go out and win a championship.”