SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- With just over a minute gone by in overtime of its East Regional second-round game with Eastern Michigan yesterday at the Carrier Dome, Penn State had to feel good about its chances of reaching the Sweet 16.

After falling behind 62-58 in overtime, backup center C.J.Johnson was fouled by EMU center Marcus Kennedy. Not only did the Lions pull within two with Johnson's two free throws, but Kennedy -- who had overpowered the Lions' big men all afternoon and had a game-high 21 points -- left the game with five fouls.

After a EMU miss, Penn State forward James Barnes made a layup and was fouled by opposing forward Kory Hallas with 3:04 left. Hallas, who kept EMU close in the first half with 12 points, was also gone with his fifth personal. Barnes nailed the free throw to put the Lions up 63-62.

"I was encouraged," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "I thought we had a great shot to win at that point in time. But sometimes late in the game it comes down to defense and free-throw shooting."

"We felt if we could use some clock and shorten the game up in the second half we'd be OK," Eastern Michigan coach Ben Braun said. "But then Marcus and Kory fouled out in overtime and it looked like we were in trouble."

It would have been easy for Eastern Michigan to fold it up. But in the clutch EMU did exactly what Parkhill said could determine the game, played tough defense and hit its free throws.

In came seldom used forwards Roger Lewis and Mike Boykin to replace Kennedy and Hallas.

"When I went out, I told Mike all he had to do is play defense and rebound," Hallas said. "I knew he and Roger would do a good job because they've played well for us all year."

On the next possession, Eastern Michigan's slick point guard Lorenzo Neely drove the lane and attempted a layup. The ball was swatted right back at him by Lions' guard Monroe Brown but EMU forward Charles Thomas caught the ball on the fly and laid it in to grab the lead back.

Forward DeRon Hayes missed a jumper for the Lions and James Barnes fouled Neely who buried two free throws with 1:30 left to put EMU up 66-63. Brown kept the Lions close with a running 10-foot jumper but Hayes fouled Charles twin brother Carl Thomas on the next trip. He hit both free throws to once again push the lead to three with :54 left.

The next trip down the floor, Penn State center Dave Degitz got the ball under the basket for a wide open layup, but the ball was blocked by Boykin who fouled the Lions' center in the process. Degitz nailed 1-of-2 free throws to make it 68-66 with with :43 left.

Then came the backbreaking play for the Lions. After EMU called a timeout with 32 seconds left, Charles Thomas was having a tough time finding an open man on the inbounds play. Just before a five-second violation, he hit Carl Thomas who found a wide open Lewis for a layup to make it 70-66 with 18 seconds left.

"Roger cut back door," Braun said. "They overplayed the passer and we were fortunate to get the easy layup."

Lewis' bucket proved to be the deciding points. Charles Thomas missed two free throws and Freddie Barnes nailed two with 14 seconds left to make it 70-68. When Neely made just 1-of-2 after being fouled, it gave Barnes a shot to send the game into double overtime with a trey. But his two desperation 3-pointers bounced off, ending the Lions season and Sweet-16 dream 71-68.

"There were a lot of key moments in the game," Freddie Barnes said. "It really came down to stopping them. If we could've done that we could have made a run. They kept hitting second shots and powering the ball inside."