SAN ANTONIO — Sometimes worthy prayers go unanswered. Loyola Chicago and Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt were forced to face that reality at the Final Four.

Loyola Chicago’s blessed and joyous basketball journey came to an unhappy end on Saturday night at the hands of Michigan. The Almighty didn’t help the Ramblers stop Michigan’s Mighty Moe or Mighty Mo, as in momentum, in the second half. Michigan forward Moritz Wagner collected 24 points and 15 rebounds, and the Wolverines rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to end the Ramblers’ unforgettable ride with a 69-57 victory at the Alamodome.

Goliath gets to win some, too.

But this Loyola team served its school and college basketball well. The Ramblers were the antithesis of the recruiting revolving door, just passing through, one-and-done zeitgeist that has overtaken the college game. They were old school and new blood. Becoming just the fourth 11th seed to advance to the Final Four, they represented the everlasting allure of the NCAA Tournament, a team taking an opportunity to show it can compete with the big boys and running with it.

It’s the misfortune of Michigan, which overtook Loyola for the nation’s longest winning streak at 14, that its win is seen as a loss for the basketball public. Fair or unfair, Michigan winning wasn’t the story in San Antonio. It was the end of the road for Loyola Chicago, whose captivating tournament run didn’t get its fairy tale finish.

Hey, the power schools have all the advantages, so they can deal with the downside of being part of the college sports gentry when it arises.

With pious and popular team chaplain Sister Jean looking on, Loyola Chicago proved it belonged in the Final Four, forcing Michigan to survive and advance to Monday night’s national title game by riding a 12-0 spurt that turned a 47-42 deficit with 9 minutes and 19 seconds left into a 54-47 lead with 4:59 to go. Loyola never got closer than 5 points the rest of the way as its dream melted away.

“I mean, it hurts right now, and we’re disappointed. But we’re going to be able to have a lot of pride in the fact that we made a name for ourselves and let the whole country know what we’re all about,’’ said Loyola senior guard Ben Richardson.

“We earned everything we got, and I think we did it the right way. I think it’s special to see what stage we were able to get to. Despite going out this way, we’re never going to forget this, and I think a lot of people will remember this run for a long time.’’

That’s for sure.

The numbers that undid Loyola were 11 (the number of turnovers they committed in the second half) and 12 (the number of unanswered points Michigan scored to seize control).

It was looking good for Loyola when catalyst Clayton Custer, who had 2 points and zero baskets in the first half, hit Loyola’s first (and only) 3-pointer of the game with 15:10 left. Custer (15 points) then followed with a jumper to put Loyola up, 41-31, with 14 minutes to go.

Meanwhile, the Ramblers were having a hard time containing German import Wagner. The versatile big man from Berlin was having difficulty defending Loyola freshman Cameron Krutwig in the post. Krutwig, who led Loyola with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, ducked in for a hoop that gave Loyola a 47-42 lead with 9:19 to go.

Loyola had to keep calm and ramble on. But then the Wolverines pounced with their decisive dozen. During it, Wagner drained a corner three to tie the game at 47 with 6:56. Michigan regained the lead on free throws by freshman Jordan Poole. Charles Matthews (17 points) followed with a baseline drive. Then Wagner turned a missed Poole three into an old-fashioned 3-point play that put Michigan up, 54-47.

When Wagner finished his Teutonic takeover by nailing a 3-pointer that put the Wolverines up, 59-51, with 2:59 to go, not even the best of Sister Jean’s basketball benedictions could save Loyola.

“The more you invest in something the harder it is to give up. They didn’t want to end it,’’ said Loyola coach Porter Moser. “They have so much to be proud of. They changed the perception of a program. They changed the perception of when you say Loyola Chicago men’s basketball. They impacted so many lives, starting with our campus and then it spread, with high-character kids playing their tails off. I couldn’t be more proud or saddened that it’s over.’’

Michigan’s AWOL offense in the first half allowed Loyola to find its footing after a shaky start and set up an entertaining second half. Michigan came in averaging only 9.2 turnovers per game, the second fewest in the country. Michigan had eight turnovers in the first half with just one assist.

Michigan shot 57.1 percent in the second half, hardly resembling the team that bricked its way to 9 of 31 and just 2 of 13 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.

In the first half, it looked like both teams had been tapped to test the structural integrity of the Alamodome rims. The Ramblers shook off a rough start that featured a 5:30 scoreless drought to lead, 29-22, at the half.

Sister Jean and Loyola had one prayer answered in the first half when Marques Townes threw a floater at the basket with the shot clock winding down. All Townes could do was shrug his shoulders, bewildered that with all the trouble Loyola was having scoring that his afterthought shot went in.

On the last day of March, Michigan’s march through the NCAA Tournament continued. Michigan, which last won a national title in 1989 thanks to the heroics of Cambridge’s Rumeal Robinson, will play Villanova in the national championship game on Monday night.

The Ramblers were a great story as a mid-major decimating brackets with “Hoosiers’’-looking uniforms. But they didn’t reach the Final Four because of a Jimmy Chitwood or a picket fence play. They belonged all along.

“We never looked at that team as a Cinderella team,’’ said Matthews. “It’s like 300-something Division 1 teams, and they’re one of the last four standing. That’s no Cinderella story. We respected them, and we knew we had to come out and execute against them.’’

Michigan did. Hail to the victors.

But hail to the hoopsters from Loyola Chicago for providing us with multiple shining moments, one unforgettable run, and one lovable nun.

Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at cgasper@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @cgasper.