1994 Tercel Engine Trouble

I am trying to determine the reason my tercel died.
I was driving down the road and as I down shifted to come to a stop, the engine revved high and then stopped. I took it to a mechanic and had a cursory look taken, they said it was not the timing chain or aniything that they could identify.
I bought the car with a rebuilt engine and transmission.
It is a 1994 Toyota Tercel STD, has approx. 151K miles and is a manual transmission. I believe that it has a 3.0 4 cylinder engine, which is the standard engine for this model.
when I get in to start it the starter cranks but nothing happens. The alternator has also been tested and there is nothing wrong with that either.
What other problems could cause the engine to rev high and then just die?