Good teams have the ability to feed off the enthusiasm and energy of the crowd and convert it into results on the floor. In the world of men's gymnastics, no team may do it better than No. 2 Penn State.

In front of 2,821 fans, and more watching on live television, the Nittany Lions used that energy, and a season-high performance on the parallel bars, to carry them to a 218.150-215.600 victory over No. 5 Ohio State.

The Buckeyes (5-3, 1-1 Big Ten) stayed close all night, matching the Nittany Lions (12-1, 2-1) in every rotation. Whenever it looked as if Penn State might pull away, Ohio State showed why it is a top-5 team, rising to the occasion with strong performances. Like the Michigan meet, it came down to the last two rotations: parallel bars and the high bar.

As the last two rotations came, the women's meet was finishing up, so the large crowd could focus all its attention on the men. It was there that Penn State shined. The Lions scored a season-high 36.950 on the parallel, followed by three straight performances of better than nine on the high bar from Matt Cohen, sophomore Casey Sandy and junior Derek Helsby.

Sandy especially turned some heads by winning the Wettstone Award as the meet's outstanding gymnast. He scored a 9.200 on the parallel bars, a 9.350 on the rings, and a 9.450 on the pommel horse.

Tommy Ramos, the reigning Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, also gave the crowd something to cheer about. His night was highlighted by a 9.650 in the rings and a 9.300 in the parallel bars.

Penn State coach Randy Jepson was happy with the win, noting that Ohio State had some athletes injured so it wasn't able to throw out its best team, but he still liked the effort he saw. He was most impressed, however with the way the team was able to come up in clutch situations.

"I just think they fought hard more than anything," Jepson said. "We were tied there at one point, and they got their backs against the wall, and they came out slugging. They didn't fall into a hole, they just came out and did a great job."

The prevailing story of the night was the crowd, and the team was more than willing to discuss how it can perform better with the crowd behind it.

"We've got the best fans in the country, and that definitely pushes us over the edge," Cohen said. "When a guy's tired and he's got a crowd of three, four thousand people screaming, it really helps."

Sandy echoed those sentiments.

"The crowd has a big influence on how we perform," he said. "The more energy they have, the more energy we have."

While the fans were treated to a solid meet, it was definitely not a flawless performance. The team did struggle at times. The vault was not one of its better performances, and the landings left something to be desired.

Still, it was a solid performance from a squad that expects to be in the national championships in April.

Sandy may have described the meet best Saturday night.

"The performance that we did tonight was great, but there's always room for improvement," he said.