Sanders, who hit his first four field-goal tries and was five for eight from the field in the opening 29 minutes, missed only one shot from the field in the final 12:17 on his way to 24 points on nine-of-15 shooting for the game.
With UCI up, 58-57, Sanders cashed in an isolation play on the left side of the 49ers defense, backing in and nailing a 12-foot turnaround jumper from the baseline with 49 seconds left.
With Long Beach failing to get the ball to junior guard Donovan Morris, who came in leading the Big West in scoring at 20.8 points per game, UCI maintained its lead.
Sanders then insured the hosts their 10th win without a loss in games played on campus this season by netting four of four foul shots in the final 16 seconds to give Long Beach State (6-21, 3-10) its fourth straight setback.
“[Sanders] took over down the stretch, and those were two big free throws he made [with 16.7 seconds left to put the Anteaters up, 62-57],” UCI Coach Pat Douglass said.
There were other key stanzas for UCI, particularly in the second half.
Trailing, 38-30, with 14:30 left, a three-pointer by Michael Hunter sparked a 10-0 UCI run that included a three-point bank shot by junior Kevin Bland.
A layup by Long Beach State junior Cornel Williams, who finished with a career-high 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, broke the drought for the 49ers and tied the score at 40.
But Bland, who was three for four from the field and matched Fells with a team-high seven rebounds, drove the left side and dunked to give UCI a 42-40 edge and energize the UCI rooters.
