As the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of Penn State's unexpected win over Wisconsin last night, a few brave individuals from the student section dashed onto the court to celebrate. Then, the floodgates opened, releasing the rest of the section and a winter's worth of frustrations.

So it's not a Big Ten Championship. So it's not an NCAA tournament win.

It's just one game.

But the students will take it. And so will the Lions.

"It's a huge load off our shoulders," sophomore forward Jan Jagla, who had his best game of the season, said. "We've been waiting for this, we never let down, and it's finally here."

The scene was reminiscent of last year's victory over this same Wisconsin team when a late Brandon Watkins jumper sunk the Badgers, 51-49. Both games were close, but this celebration transcended the fact that Penn State won in dramatic fashion; this game was a catharsis for the Nittany Lion Nation. The entire atmosphere at the Bryce Jordan Center, so long a bastion of negativity and echoing criticism, seemed different. Instead of calling for the head of Penn State coach Jerry Dunn, the fans reacted with enthusiasm for the play on the court. Instead of booing Jagla every time he touched the ball, they cheered the big man on at every opportunity.

The fans pouring onto the court to celebrate with the team was the exclamation point of a special night.

"It was pretty big," Jagla said. "It's like a championship for us."

When the Lions were down by eight points with just 1:42 remaining, it took two huge three-pointers by Sharif Chambliss to bring the energy back in the building.

"It goes back to what we've been saying all season," Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn said. "It's stepping up and making shots when we have to have them."

The few die-hard fans that have followed this team through thick and thin needed those threes to go down, too.