The Penn State men's gymnastics team's dual meet against the University of California ended at 1 a.m. EST yesterday morning.

With no overtime thrillers or extra innings to blame, the No. 5 Nittany Lions (6-2, 1-1 in Big Ten) can blame the location on the late finish.

Being that there was a three-hour time difference in Berkeley, Calif. as opposed to State College, the late start time of 10:30 p.m. EST seemed to have little effect on the Lions as they posted one of their highest scores of the season.

But the score of 216.575 was not enough to beat No. 6 Cal, who topped their own season high mark with a 219.100.

The stroke of midnight seemed to have a Cinderella effect on the tired Lions as they lost the last two events in the eventual loss.

Penn State men's gymnastics coach Randy Jepson did not see the time as much of a problem as it seemed.

"The late start was really not a huge problem," Jepson said. "The difference was minimal."

Senior captain Chad Buczek quickly won the floor exercise with a 9.600 with sophomore Santiago Lopez finishing in third.

Buczek's score was a career high for himself in the last of dual meet of his career.

He also posted a season high score on the vault with a 9.450 as the only Lion to win an individual event.

"Our performance as a whole was not that bad," Jepson said. "We weren't outstanding, but we weren't poor either."

The Lions then went on to win the next rotation in the vault and still rings and seemed as if they were going to be in a close meet.

A score of 36.950 was the team's highest score of the season in the vault and a sign of hope for the final two events.

But the 10:30 p.m EST start of the meet seemed to finally kick in as the Lions went on to lose in the parallel and high bars which eventually led to the loss.

"Our team is just injured now," Jepson said. "We have some people stepping up into new spots."

Positives for the Lions in the loss were sophomore Vladi Klurman's 9.350 in the rings and Lopez's two third place finishes.

After losing freshman Casey Sandy earlier in the season to a broken arm, the Lions have been looking for someone to take his place.

Sophomore Derek Helsby finished in the top three of three different events.

"Derek was just outstanding," Jepson said. "He really stepped up."

So far this year sophomore Tommy Ramos has taken the opportunity to raise his performances and managed a second-place finish in the parallel bars.

Last weekend Ramos finished first in three events in Penn State's 213.550-205.100 win over William & Mary in a matchup at home in Rec Hall.

Also that night, junior Matt Cohen was honored with the Gene Wettstone award for greatest improvement for a gymnast.

On Saturday, Cohen finished second on the rings and third on the high bar.

The Lions now have two weeks off until the Big Ten Championships and will use the time to fine tune and rest up for one of the events they have been preparing for all year.

After the 2,700 mile plane ride from California, the team will need the time to catch up on sleep.

"We really need these next two weeks," Jepson said. "We can use the practice to be stronger mentally in the future."