Lions hold on to top Tiger-Cats

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Shawn Gore caught a pair of touchdown passes before leaving with a hamstring injury as the BC Lions topped the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 39-36 in front of just over 25,000 fans at BC Place.

The Tiger-Cats opened the scoring just over five minutes into the first quarter when Henry Burris dumped a pass off to Chevon Walker and he exploded through the Lions’ defence for a 95-yard touchdown.

The Leos responded with Gore’s first touchdown of the game. Travis Lulay hit Gore with a pass along the right sideline and he tip-toed his way in for the score to make it 7-7.

After the Tabbies jumped back out in front with a Daryl Stephenson touchdown, Lulay and Gore hooked up for a touchdown for the second time in the game, this time from 26 yards.

Just 17 seconds later BC extended its lead as Anthony Reddick picked off Burris on his first pass attempt following the Gore touchdown, and brought the ball to the two-yard line. A Hamilton penalty gave the Lions a first-and-goal from the one-yard line and Andrew Harris punched it in to make it 23-14 heading into halftime.

The kick returners took centre stage in the third quarter. After a Paul McCallum field goal put the Leos up 26-14, Tim Brown returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown to make it a 19-point lead for the home team.

Hamilton’s Chris Williams wasn’t to be outdone though, as just under three minutes later he returned a punt 67 yards for a major score.

With the Ticats trailing by 11 points in the fourth quarter, Burris hit Williams in the endzone for his third touchdown of the game and then completed a pass to Andy Fantuz to earn the two-point conversion.

The Leos were able to run the clock out and hold on for the victory.

Lions’ defensive back Ryan Phillips left the game late in the fourth quarter with a right-ankle injury and did not return. He’ll have X-rays tomorrow and is hopeful for next week’s game.

BC will next head out on the road to meet the Saskatchewan Roughriders next Saturday.