KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A remarkable campaign for Grace's men's basketball team reached its end on Saturday.

The Lancers fell 99-86 to Ave Maria in the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championships.

The loss ends Grace's season with a 31-4 record. The young Lancers, who have no seniors, were making their fourth straight trip to the NAIA's Elite Eight.

Grace struggled to find its shooting touch, making only 41 percent of its attempts overall and 17 percent on 3s.

The Gyrenes (30-4), on the other hand, drilled 15 shots from the 3-point line, making 48 percent from deep.

To begin Saturday's quarterfinals, the Lancers started on a strong foot. Gage Sefton made a 3-pointer and a layup in the first two minutes.

Four points from Tyler Raasch and a layup by Gavin Betten lifted Grace to a 13-9 lead at the under-15 media timeout.

Ave Maria caught fire in response. The Gyrenes scored on their next six possessions, scoring 15 points and stunning the Lancers by taking a 24-15 advantage.

Hunter Walston did his best to help Grace catch up. The sophomore rattled off seven points, including an and-1, over a two-minute span. He later added a 3-pointer and another layup to trim the deficit to seven.

But Grace struggled to slow down Ave Maria in the opening half. The Gyrenes canned a trio of triples over the final 3:23 of the half. They scored a layup at the buzzer, going into halftime with a 55-43 lead.

Ave Maria made 53 percent of its 3-point attempts in the first half, connecting on 9 of 17 from downtown. Comparatively, Grace made 33 percent from deep and 40 percent overall from the floor.

Walston (14 points) and Sefton (12) led Grace's offense at the break.

Grace showed signs of a comeback to begin the second half. A pair of driving layups from Grady Carpenter provided an early spark, and a layup from Walston cut the Gyrene's lead down to eight.

A few minutes later, Grace pulled all the way to within five (65-60) with 11:41 remaining.

But Ave Maria responded as they often did, with a 3-pointer. The Gyrenes hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open up a double-digit cushion.

The Lancers continued to battle until the final buzzer, slicing a 15-point lead down to seven with 1:15 on the clock.

But Grace's desperation 3-pointers down the stretch were off the mark. The Lancers missed their final 10 triples over the last two minutes.

Grace shot 1 of 18 on 3-point tries in the second half and 42 percent from the floor overall.

Walston finished with 24 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Sefton had 17 points, 10 boards and three assists.

Wellman scored 13 points with five boards, and Carpenter produced 11 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

Ian Raasch scored 11 points with four rebounds, and Betten added 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and 1 block.