Sometimes the scores can be misleading.

This weekend, the men's gymnastics team traveled to Michigan where the Lions posted a 275.55-272.45 victory over Michigan State and were barely edged by the Wolverines 278.85-277.05.

However, the entire tale cannot be told through the scores alone. In an intense competition with Michigan, victory for either team was not assured. It was the last event that sealed Penn State's fate.

"Michigan just kept hitting," Dave Riordan said.

After three weeks away from competition, the team as a whole did not perform as well as they are capable of on Friday. However, they did beat the Spartans.

"We were sloppy," said Ryan McEwen, who is currently red-shirted. "We didn't seem to have too much of a focus on what we had to do."

Captain Jim Delaney called a meeting of his teammates in his hotel room to inspire enthusiasm and motivation.

"You have to deal with what went wrong and focus on what went right," said the team's only senior, "more so on what could be done better."

With a focused attitude and a renewed desire to compete, the gymnasts headed to Ann Arbor anticipating a tough meet, but confident in their ability to win. Little breaks in various events ended up being the deciding factor.

"We had some rough performances on certain events," Coach Randy Jepson said. "Our rings was not what it could be. We only scored a 46.45. We're much better than that. Parallel bars, a 45.45, we're much better than that. On high bar, we had a couple breaks which set us back."

Despite minor setbacks in other events, the team did post two solid pommel horse sets. Earlier this season, the pommel horse had been an inconsistent event for the Lions.

"We did do better -- 46.2," Jepson said of his team's performance on Saturday. "We're still having a little bit of trouble on dismounts. I think we can be a 47 team on horse."

Individual highlights included strong showings by Tyson Bryant, Joe Roemer and Josh Turner. These freshmen were able to step in for all-arounder Mark Cooper, who was limited in availability with an ankle injury. On Friday, Bryant performed solidly on the pommel horse, and on Saturday he scored a 9.35 on the high bar. Roemer tied teammate Riordan for second place on the rings at Michigan State, while Turner earned a 9.5 on the floor exercise. On Saturday, sophomore Brandy Wood won the all-around with a 55.45 score.

Overall, this weekend was a learning experience for the Lions.

"It was really good for me to see them in the kind of atmosphere and pressure that they're going to have as they go into the rest of the season," Jepson said. "That and it's a lot of fun. It's not fun losing, but that's what collegiate gymnastics is all about."