HAMILTON — Jonathon Jennings threw his first touchdown pass of the season to Emmanuel Arceneaux and running back Shaq Murray-Lawrence ran in another as the B.C. Lions beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 28-3 in front of a sold-out Canada Day crowd of 24,123 at Tim Hortons Field on Friday.

B.C. improved to 2-0 and Hamilton fell to 1-1.

The Tiger-Cats scored their fewest points at home since a 20-2 loss against Toronto on Aug. 12, 2006.

Lions kicker Richie Leone made three of his five field-goal attempts, hitting from 44, 31 and 21 yards while missing shots from 36 and 35 yards out on a trademark blustery day in Hamilton.

Ticats kicker Brett Maher missed all three field-goal attempts, from 36, 48 and 42 yards.

Ryan Phillips and Loucheiz Purifoy each had an interception off Ticat pivot Jeremiah Masoli and Hamilton defensive end John Chick recovered two fumbles. The B.C. defence sacked Masoli four times while Hamilton got to Jennings once.

Masoli, who has been Hamilton's starter while Zach Collaros recovers from a knee injury sustained last September, struggled to complete 26-of-39 pass attempts for 249 yards, zero TDs and two interceptions.

Jennings finished 16-of-27 passing for 228 yards and one TD.

The Lions took a 7-2 lead into the locker room at half time, and then made it 10-2 when they opened the third quarter with a 50-yard, eight-play drive, capped off by Leone's 31-yard field goal with the wind.

B.C. got the ball back almost immediately when Phillips intercepted a Masoli pass meant for Brandon Banks and ran it back 27 yards to the Hamilton 29-yard-line. Six plays and three Hamilton offsides later, Murray-Lawrence ran it in from the two-yard line. Leone followed that score up with an 85-yard kickoff single and B.C. was up 18-2 midway through the third.

Maher missed a 42-yarder, making it 18-3 Lions heading into the fourth.

B.C. made it 25-3 midway through the fourth when Jennings hit Arceneaux with a 16-yard TD pass to cap a 51-yard drive. A fumble by Hamilton's Tiquan Underwood was recovered by Anthony Thompson and returned to the 35, leading to a 21-yard field goal and the 28-3 lead.

The first half had a lot of action, but not much to show for it on the scoreboard.

It was 4-2 for B.C. in the opening quarter on missed field goals by each team, a successful 44-yarder by Leone and an 85-yard punt single by Maher.

The Lions controlled the ball for 6:09 ending the first and heading into the second quarter, including a Jennings pass that slipped through the hands of Bryan Burnham streaking down the left sideline for what would have been a certain 50-yard score. Thirteen plays later, the Lions settled for a single point when Leone missed a 35-yard field-goal attempt.

B.C. had to settle again on its next possession. Jennings hit Gore for a 60-yard gain down the right sideline. But Gore was horse-tackled by Geoff Tisdale and the penalty put the ball at the Hamilton four-yard-line. Jennings fumbled on the next play, and Chick recovered the ball on the five-yard-line. It looked like Hamilton had dodged another bullet, but Masoli was sacked and the Ticats conceded the safety, giving B.C. the 7-2 lead.

Hamilton put together a 65-yard, 12-play drive with 2:53 left in the half, but an incompletion coupled with a holding call stalled the Ticats at the 41 and Maher missed his 48-yarder into the wind.