LIONS 40 TICATS 13

VANCOUVER – Jonathon Jennings threw three touchdown passes in the first half and Andrew Harris ran in two more late as the B.C. Lions defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 40-13 on Friday night.

With the victory, the Lions (6-10) snapped a two-game slide while maintaining their hold on third in the CFL’s West Division.

Jeff Mathews threw two touchdowns for the Tiger-Cats (10-6), but struggled for long stretches against a stout B.C. defence that created four turnovers, including two interceptions by Ryan Phillips.

The Lions temporarily found themselves outside the playoff picture when the Montreal Alouettes defeated the Toronto Argonauts 34-2 earlier Friday, but came up with a big effort after going just 2-7 over their last nine.

The Alouettes also sit at 6-10 and are battling the Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (5-11) for third place in the West by way of the crossover rule. Montreal must finish with more points than both B.C. and Winnipeg to earn the crossover.

After the Tiger-Cats grabbed an early 6-0 lead on Mathews’ 64-yard catch-and-run hookup with Luke Tasker that was followed up by a blocked extra point, the Lions forced the visitors into conceding a safety before getting their first big play of the night when Chris Rainey returned a punt 66 yards to Hamilton’s 20.

(The Canadian Press)