The men's gymnastics team needed a boost, a little push forward. Saturday night it got just that, a little boost beating Michigan State 283.55-274.80. Despite posting their season-high score, the Lions struggled through the final three events, leaving room for improvement.

"The first half of the meet we did fairly well," Coach Karl Schier said. "But once again, we are just not doing the job in the second half."

As NCAAs approach, the Lions continue to look for the perfect meet. Adam Carton began Saturday night on a strong note, scoring a 9.8 to tie for first on the floor exercise. Heading into the final performer on the next event, the pommel horse, the team was off to a strong pace. Then the unthinkable happened. Mark Sohn fell.

Sohn hasn't broken on a pommel horse routine since his freshman season. Throughout this season he has scored three 10s and averaged 9.90 on the event. Saturday night he proved he was human though when he broke halfway through his routine as the crowd watched in disbelief.

"That was a shocker huh?" Wayne Cowden said. "But at least he got it out of the way. He won't break again."

Sohn said he has had a wrist problem that may have caused him to lose focus in his practice routine. For him, this may prove a welcome wake-up call.

"I just didn't do the skill right, leaned back too far and lost my balance," Sohn said. "This could be a blessing in disguise though, because I would rather have it happen now than at the NCAAs. I can't guarantee anything, but I would put my money on it that it won't happen again."

The Lions' other returning NCAA champion, Cowden, turned in his best meet of the season, matching his career high with a 56.65 in the all-around. He again captured the rings with 9.85 and also placed first on the high bar with a 9.65.

"I finally put a good all-around meet in but I can do better on my parallel bars and vault," Cowden said. "As a team, our score should have been higher and we can do better. We have to work on parallel bars."

Cowden was one of four Lions to place in the all-around. Carton (57.60) finished first, Cowden second, Mike Masucci (56.55) third and Jamie Downer (56.45) fourth. For Carton it was a career-best and included a victory on the parallel bars along with the floor.

Parallel bars posed the biggest problem for the Lions. While the vault has shown signs of improvement, the team now will work to build its P-bar routines in time for the nationals.

"We'll make some slight changes and work with the routines," assistant coach Randy Jepson said. "But basically we just have to bang out some solid routines in practice. It's no secret to the guys as to what they have to do."

The team has three weeks until Eastern Regionals, time to hit the gym and solidify the routines. With the five breaks on Saturday night and a 283 score, Schier said it shows the team can go 286. But this potential is all based on the practice the team can put in in the next few weeks.