LAWRENCEVILLE -- Kevin Baggett took a deep breath and sigh of relief.
"I almost forgot what this feels like," the veteran coach said.
Rider is winless no more against Division I competition.
Flash Burton scored 21 points, Shemani Fuller hit the go-ahead bucket as the clock ticked under two minutes and the Broncs defeated Iona, 72-68, on Wednesday night at Alumni Gymnasium to snap a 12-game losing skid.
Rider (2-14, 1-6) won for the first time since a victory over Division III Eastern on Nov. 15.
"We just had to execute better and be better," said Fuller, who was outstanding with a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double. "Like coach said, we have been working extremely hard. I feel like we deserve this win. We played hard and like coach just told us one game at a time."
Zion Cruz tallied 13 of his 16 points in the first half as the Broncs jumped on the lethargic Gaels (12-7, 4-4) to lead by as many as 17 late in the opening half.
Burton had nice bounce back game after he was shut out on Sunday by Marist, including a drive and left-handed finish late for a 69-65 lead. He made seven of his 11 shot attempts and also sank seven of his eight free throw attempts.
Iona, a team that averages 9.1 made 3s per game, eventually found its footing in the second half -- they went 8-of-18 from deep in the second half to finish 13-of-35 overall -- and used a 14-2 run to make it a one-possession with 7:23 remaining. The Gaels surged in front for the first time with 5:28 to go, but after exchanging the lead once each, Fuller scored in the paint with 1:52 left and the Broncs managed enough stops to hold on.
The home team also got a big offensive rebound from Caleb Smith late -- he, too, had 13 total caroms -- and Antwan Wilson made three of four free throws in the final 20 seconds to keep Rider ahead by two possessions.
"I'm proud of these guys sticking through things even when we lost the lead," Baggett said. "Guys kept their composure. Our guys made some big baskets and got some big-time rebounds to secure the win."
This marked the fourth of seven MAAC games for Rider that have been within one possession in the final two minutes.
This time it finally found a way to win.
"Usually in that time we have bad mental breakdowns," Fuller said. "It was kind of a little sketchy here and there, but we held our composure and we told ourself we weren't going to do that this game. We perfected that, we got over that and we went out there and did what we had to do."
It was also the formula this team needs to use if it is going to rescue anything from the season. After a few rough games on the glass, Rider was +18 overall, got 16 offensive rebounds, finished +8 in the paint and +15 at the free throw line.
"We've been here," Baggett said. "There were a couple games where we didn't come up with those stops in the end and those rebounds and it cost us the game. So everybody went to the glass; everybody blocked out. All the credit goes to these guys. They've been putting the work in."