Lulay, Lions come all the way back on Bombers

VANCOUVER Travis Lulay’s first start in nearly 10 months didn’t get off to an encouraging start.

The veteran quarterback and his B.C. Lions waited until the third quarter to trigger the offence, scoring 20 unanswered points in the second half for a 20-17 come-from behind victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday.

Winnipeg was up 17-0 at the break and looked to have the win within reach, but timely turnovers by the Bombers and a strong drive from the returning Lulay late in the game set up Ty Long’s 16-yard field goal as time expired.

“We just hunkered down,” said Lulay. “It’s gut check time and we found a way to make enough plays to win.”

Saturday was Lulay’s first start of the year after he underwent off-season knee surgery. He got the nod over a struggling Jonathon Jennings against the Bombers and threw for 326 yards, including one touchdown pass and one interception.

Long’s field goal gave the Lions (2-2) a split in the home-and-home series, and snapped the team’s two-game losing skid.

The Bombers, who beat the Lions 41-19 last week in Winnipeg, fell to 2-3 with the loss.

Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols was picked off three times, while throwing for 214 yards. All told, Winnipeg had five turnovers.

“We killed ourselves,” Nichols said. “Everything we could do wrong we did wrong and still barely lost. I feel like it was a game we had every opportunity to win and we made more than too many mistakes.”