EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ (3/27/04) -- The Saint Joseph's Hawks' carriage turned back into a pumpkin at 9:07 Saturday night, and college basketball's best story came to a disappointingly premature end.

John Lucas sank a line-drive 3-pointer from the left wing with 6.9 seconds to go, and Jameer Nelson's jumper from the lane fell short as time ran out, giving Oklahoma State a hard-fought 64-62 victory in the East Rutherford Regional final at Continental Airlines Arena.

Saint Joseph's dizzying romp through the season ended at 30-2, while the Cowboys (31-3) moved on to the Final Four, in San Antonio.

"The level of effort was second to none of any game I've been involved in," said a subdued Phil Martelli, the Hawks' head coach. "We fought. We would replay a couple of possessions that we got a little hurried on offense, but it's been an honor to have coached them. We'll make them as whole as we can before we leave for Philadelphia tonight, then get them together and see if our younger guys have the same wherewithal our older guys have provided them all year."

The Hawks used their superior quickness to get open looks all night long, but failed to capitalize, shooting just 8-for-26 from beyond the arc. Overall, SJU was an atypical 38.6% from the floor.

"Our shot selection was not on an A level," Martelli said. "We took some shots when we were guarded. We took some shots that were rushed. We took some shots that we were hoping to make and not knowing we would make."

Nelson's magnificent collegiate career came to a close with a 17-point, 8-assist, 8-rebound performance, while Delonte West led the Hawks with 20. The pair was named to the all-region team.

"I don't really think you can put into words what this guy has done," Martelli said of Nelson. "He's the greatest player I've ever been around, but he is absolutely the nicest person anybody could ever imagine or want to be a part of their life forever. He's gone in terms of a uniform, but he'll never be gone from St. Joe basketball. The numbers are astounding and the wins are astounding, but the humanness with which he did it will last a lifetime in St. Joe's basketball history."

Asked how long it would take to recover from the loss, Nelson replied, "I really can't even estimate. Something like this, everyone wants to talk about the season. For me it's about leaving my coaches and my teammates. It's not about the kind of season we had."

Lucas's 19 points paced OSU, while Joey Graham notched a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Tony Allen added 12.

The Hawks entered halftime with a 6-point lead, and the largely pro-SJU crowd was in a celebratory mood. But Oklahoma State tightened up its defensive effort in the second stanza and quick erased the deficit.

"Technically, those first couple of minutes in the second half, when we should have put them on their heels, they put us on our heels," Martelli said. "I thought our shot selection got away from us in the beginning of the second half. We had talked at halftime about relaxing a little bit. But we got a little bit frenzied, and our transition defense was a half a man short."

After struggling through a difficult shooting game, Carroll buried a trey to give the Hawks a 1-point lead with under 30 seconds to play. Out of timeouts, the Cowboys pushed the ball up the floor. Somehow it came loose, and in the mad scramble to recover it, Lucas wound up open on the perimeter.

"Everything happened so fast," Carroll noted. "It seemed like the ball went loose. I went for it; I should have stayed back. Everything happened so quick."

And so a season of firsts for the Hawks -- a No. 1 ranking, a top seed in the NCAA Tournament, 30 wins, and so much more -- came to a sad conclusion.

"I'm so proud of my teammates that I'm not even dwelling on the negatives right now, even though it was my last game," said senior Tyrone Barley. "That I had the opportunity to play with the guys on my team, that's what I'm most pleased with."

"This was a magical season, and it's something we're going to take with us for the rest of our lives," Carroll added.