Shemani Fuller only had one thought when coach Kevin Baggett called a play for him with the game hanging in the balance.

“I got to help my team win,” the redshirt senior forward said. “That’s it.”

Fuller delivered the go-ahead basket in that moment and Rider held on to beat Iona, 72-68, on Wednesday night to snap a 12-game skid and get its first victory over a Division I opponent.

Fuller finished the game with 13 points and 13 rebounds. It was his second double-double of the season and marked the fourth time he hauled down 10 or more rebounds.

Most importantly, it got the Broncs a win that seemed to be so elusive.

“The last press conference, like I said, at the time, we were 1-11 and I said we weren’t a 1-11 team,” Fuller said. “We just have to execute better, be better. Like coach said, we’ve been working extremely hard. So, I feel like we deserved this win. We played hard. Like coach just told us, one game at a time.”

That it was Fuller getting the ball in the game’s deciding moments would have been an afterthought a month and a half ago when he hadn’t scored more than seven points in any of the first nine games.

“You talk about the most improved guy on the team, you’re looking at him,” Baggett said. “He just needed to be coached up a little bit and slow down. He just became patient, started listening, started studying more. Sometimes you just need to listen. That’s our whole team. Once guys started to listen and trust better … Shemani, he can do some things down there and he’s put the work in.”

So much so that …

“Either he was going to score or they were going to foul him and he was going to make free throws,” Baggett said.

“I’m just doing my job,” said Fuller, a native of the Bronx who came to Lawrenceville after stops at Western Michigan and Division II Clark Atlanta. “Coach brought me in here and told me it’s not really about scoring, I need you to defend and get rebounds. I’m just trying to do my part 110%.”

The Broncs (2-14, 1-6) are still in last place in the MAAC and visit surprising league leader Saint Peter’s (9-6, 6-1) on Saturday afternoon, but do so after an encouraging performance.

“Definitely,” sophomore guard Flash Burton said when asked if the team can pull itself up the standings. “All we have to do is follow the scout and trust (coach).”