{"id":367212,"date":"2025-10-26T00:26:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T00:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/367212\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T00:26:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T00:26:26","slug":"cole-mccabe-primed-for-bigger-role-after-helping-rider-mens-basketball-shake-rowan-in-exhibition-trentonian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/367212\/","title":{"rendered":"Cole McCabe primed for bigger role after helping Rider men\u2019s basketball shake Rowan in exhibition \u2013 Trentonian"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAWRENCEVILLE \u2014 Cole McCabe and his Rider teammates probably weren\u2019t anticipating feeling game pressure in the second half of an exhibition against Rowan.<\/p>\n

The Division III school out of the NJAC proved to be tougher to shake than anybody imagined.<\/p>\n

Flash Burton scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and the Broncs finally pulled away in the final eight minutes for a 76-64 victory on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s another outside competition that we have so I think we can go back and look at the film,\u201d said McCabe, who finished with nine points and two blocks in 24 minutes. \u201cSometimes it gets hard when you are playing against each other a lot. We\u2019re playing an outside competition and looking back at that can help us for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCabe, a 6-8 sophomore forward from Miami Beach, isn\u2019t a new player\u00a0 \u2014 he appeared in 26 games as a freshman \u2014 but he\u2019s going to have an increased role.<\/p>\n

McCabe started alongside Burton, Zion Cruz, Antwan Wilson and Mohamad Diallo.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust to work,\u201d McCabe said when asked how he\u2019s prepared himself for this opportunity. \u201cJust every day doing what I have to do, stay in the weight room, stay in the gym and everything else is going to work itself out.\u201d<\/p>\n

That work hasn\u2019t gone unnoticed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our hardest workers, man,\u201d coach Kevin Baggett said. \u201cHe\u2019s in the gym three or four times a day and everything that he gets he\u2019s earned. As a coach, these are the kind of guys you want to coach. He\u2019s only going to get better. Once he starts to get enough minutes under his belt to become more comfortable being out there that transferred over from last year. The sky is the limit for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rider actually trailed by three with 13:09 left in the second half before Burton scored five straight points to retake the lead. The Broncs pushed the advantage to as many as 16 with 3:10 remaining.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was good for us to be in that situation, but also not good because we should have never been in that situation,\u201d Baggett said. \u201cGive our guys credit because I think with about 15 minutes to go we started to really dial in, get turnovers, get some easy baskets and put pressure on them. We got up early in the first half and then we rested and the next thing you know it was a one-point game at half. It is a matter of a lot of guys coming together, but it\u2019s a matter of us becoming a better team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rider'sRider\u2019s Flash Burton reacts after scoring a basket against Rowan during an exhibition men\u2019s college basketball game on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025 at Alumni Gymnaisum in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko\/ Trentonian Photo)
\n***<\/p>\n

Shemani Fuller scored 14 points and hauled down 11 rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench.<\/p>\n

Fuller is a 6-9 forward from the Bronx who came in after one season at Western Michigan and two at Division II Clark Atlanta. He averaged 12 points and 8.1 rebounds last season at Clark Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a guy who is still learning us and our offense and defense,\u201d Baggett said. \u201cHe\u2019s been the guys who has been coached the hardest because he just didn\u2019t know. \u2026 He makes some mistakes, but it\u2019s not because he doesn\u2019t play hard and it\u2019s not because of his effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rider doesn\u2019t have a true interior the scorer in the way it has in years past. Fuller will score around the rim with his activity as will the 7-footer Diallo.<\/p>\n

But the Broncs won\u2019t be hammering it into the post like it did last season with Tariq Ingraham, who is finishing his collegiate career at Memphis following four seasons in Lawrenceville.<\/p>\n

\u201c(We) should be able to run to the rim more,\u201d Baggett said. \u201cYou saw some of the lobs that the guys got. We got to rebound with two hands, they got to catch the ball in traffic a little better and not bring it down and allow the guards to get their hands on it. Those are things we are working on and by the middle of the year those guys will settle in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rider'sRider\u2019s Shemani Fuller attempts a free throw against Rowan during an exhibition men\u2019s college basketball game on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025 at Alumni Gymnaisum in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko\/ Trentonian Photo)
\n***<\/p>\n

Guard Devean Williams was unavailable do to disciplinary reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Rider University you have to go to class,\u201d Baggett said. \u201cI\u2019m never going to play a guy for wins and losses and the team rules \u2026 our guys know this to go to class. It\u2019s not for me, it\u2019s for you to get your education. If you can\u2019t do that then you can\u2019t be part of the team until you do it our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams previously played at Canisius and Bryant.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Ryan Thompson returned to Alumni Gymnasium as an assistant on Rowan\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n

In four seasons from 2006-10, Thompson scored 1,879 points to rank fourth all-time in program history just behind his older brother Jason who tallied 2,040 points from 2005-08.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was good to see Ryan back here,\u201d Baggett said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of my favorites of all time. One of Rider\u2019s greatest of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RowanRowan assistant coach Ryan Thompson looks on in pregame against Rider during an exhibition men\u2019s college basketball game on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025 at Alumni Gymnaisum in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko\/ Trentonian Photo)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAWRENCEVILLE \u2014 Cole McCabe and his Rider teammates probably weren\u2019t anticipating feeling game pressure in the second half…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,325,29863,231,772,1544,9130,66,28060],"class_list":{"0":"post-367212","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-college-sports","11":"tag-mercer-county","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-basketball","14":"tag-ncaab","15":"tag-new-jersey","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-top-stories-trt"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115437632784648429","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}