AC jumped out to a dominating 29-12 lead with 10:28 left in the first half, but the Knights would cut the AC lead to nine at the break, 43-34.
Calvin then used a lazy defensive effort and poor offensive performance from AC and took the lead at 10:39 left in the second half.
AC and Calvin would trade leads for most of the last 10 minutes, but at the end it looked like AC would regain its form it showed in the first half and pick up the win.
AC led 69-68 with 1:29 remaining in the contest and got a big defensive stop on Calvin's next possession. AC would then come down and get two great looks, but couldn't cash in, as Calvin's Josh Meckes recorded a huge game saving block to give the Knights one more chance. Shilts then came down the floor and drove out of control, spinned twice and threw up a running jumper that shocked the AC faithful and gave Calvin a 70-69 lead. After a Calvin timeout, AC had one last look, but it wasn't meant to be as the Bulldogs fall to 0-1 in the MIAA and 6-5 overall. Calvin improves to 9-3 overall and 1-0 in the MIAA.
AC was led by a very balanced scoring attack. Four Bulldogs scored in double-digits, led by Bohlen's 16 points, which included four triples. Schaefer added 13 points, Mike Lewis tossed in 11, while Billy Collins Jr. knocked down 10. Bohlen led the rebounding effort with seven boards, while Jeff Nokovich handed out five assists.
The Bulldogs will now hit the road and travel to Holland, Michigan on Saturday for a 3 p.m. showdown with the Hope College Flying Dutchmen.