Men's Gymnastics Coach Randy Jepson was correct last week when he said the West Point Open would be a two-team race, pitting Penn State against Temple. But the Lions were not as lucky as they were on Dec. 3, when they beat the Owls by five-hundredths of a point at the Massachusetts Invitational.

In this weekend's meet, the tables were turned as Temple beat Penn State by one-tenth of a point.

Temple came in first place in the team competition Friday with a score of 221.45. Penn State was close behind with 221.35 and Syracuse was third with 219.40.

"It was a little disappointing," said Lion senior Mark Cooper. "We didn't perform the way we are capable of doing. We have high expectations for this year."

Jepson said the team was physically prepared, but that there was a lack of mental preparation. There were a lot of missed routines and the team was very inconsistent, he said.

Freshman Mark Minutaglio agreed.

"I think we had a few mental lapses," the pommel horse specialist said, "and it's just a matter of time until we get it all together."

Jepson added the key for the Lions is to get a little bit more consistency into their routines and have the team hit routines as a group.

Lion junior Tony Pansy had a solid meet. He came in second in the all-around on Saturday with a score of 56.0. Pansy came in first on the parallel bars (9.4), tied for fourth on the rings (9.5) and placed fifth on the pommel horse (8.6).

Freshman Roy Malka also had a good meet, showing much improvement from December's competition. He came in eighth in the all-around (54.2), horizontal bar (8.95) and the parallel bars (8.65), and finished sixth on the pommel horse (8.55).

Cooper came in first on the horizontal bar (9.6) and placed seventh on the floor (9.35).

Despite some individual bright spots, Copper was disappointed in the team's overall performance.

It was good for us to have a bad meet to make us realize what we've got to do," he said. "I think it was a good learning experience."

The Lions were competing without sophomore Joe Roemer, who has been sidelined since last August due to wrist surgery.

Temple was led by Danny Akerman on the pommel horse and parallel bars. He came in second to Penn State's Pansy on the parallel bars.

Syracuse was led by junior Ofri Porat, who came in first on the vault with a 9.5 and also placed in the top 10 on the rings, floor, and horizontal bar.

The Lions next meet is the Navy Invitational at 7 p.m. Saturday in Annapolis, Md.