WINONA LAKE, Ind. – Grace's men's basketball team did not defend its Crossroads League tournament championship the way it had imagined, exiting in the first round to Marian by the score of 62-54 on Wednesday.

The NAIA No. 17 Lancers had a number of long scoring droughts to allow the Knights to escape the Orthopaedic Capital Center with the upset.

The loss eliminates Grace from obtaining an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships. The Lancers will await the revealing of the NAIA Division II bracket on Feb. 27 to see if the team will be rewarded with an at-large invitation. Grace is hoping for a fifth trip to Branson, Mo., in the past six years.

Grace started with a lack of energy, allowing the Knights (16-13) to take the first lead of the game. Over the first four minutes of action, the Lancers committed five turnovers and missed their first three shots.

The Lancers (21-9) seemed to find their rhythm when a 3-pointer by Niko Read jumpstarted seven unanswered points. After Elliot Smith was fouled on another 3-point attempt and converted all three free throws, Grace had its largest lead of the game at 19-14.

But Grace's second offensive dry spell hit in the final five minutes of the half. The Lancers did not make a field goal for the last 4:50, allowing Marian to score eight straight points and claim a 31-27 advantage at halftime.

If the start to the first half was bad for the Lancers, the beginning of the second half was even worse. Grace went nearly nine minutes after halftime without adding another point to the scoreboard. The Lancers missed their first 10 shots of the second half.

Taking into account Grace's offensive struggles between the end of the first half and the start of the second half, the Lancers played 13:24 of basketball without making a field goal.

A layup from Bruce Grimm Jr. with 11:26 to play broke Grace's drought to cut Marian's lead to 39-29.

Greg Miller did his best to put the Lancers back within striking distance with six points in a four-minute span. Grace trimmed their deficit to six points on three occasions, but each time Marian had the answer.

With 2:07 to play Marian held a 56-43 lead before a valiant Lancer comeback. Grimm made two quick shots in the paint, and Miller buried a 3-pointer to bring the Lancers within 56-50 with 1:22 remaining.

But the Knights hit six free throws over the final 70 seconds to hold on for the upset.

The Lancers made 18-of-53 from the floor (34 percent), including 3-of-18 from beyond the arc.

Miller was the lone offensive bright spot for Grace with 22 points and five rebounds on 8-of-13 shooting. Grimm tallied 11 points and four rebounds, and Read chipped in five points and five boards off the bench.