Saskatchewan hands Leos first home loss

VANCOUVER — The B.C. Lions know they're facing an uphill slog in the second half of the season after dropping yet another close game.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-4) squeezed out a 24-21 win Saturday night, handing the Leos (3-6) their first home loss of the season.

Riders quarterback Zach Collaros threw for 215 yards, while B.C.'s Travis Lulay put up 231.

But offensive missteps continue to plague the Lions. Head coach Wally Buono said he was disappointed with the number of balls his team dropped.

“You’ve got to catch balls to continue drives, you've got to catch balls to create plays, you’ve got to got catch balls to score touchdowns. You can’t just kick field goals,” he said.

B.C. kicker Ty Long opened the scoring with a 20-yard field goal less than three minutes in.

It was the first of five he made throughout the game, including a 48-yard kick in the final minute of the first half.

Buono noted that if one of those field goals had been a touchdown, the Lions could have walked away with a much-needed win.

“It is what it is. We’ve created this situation the way that it is. We had high hopes for our offence, but at the end of it, it's not scored enough points, it's not taken advantage of enough opportunities and it's created too many miscues,” he said.

The coach hinted that some roster adjustments may be in the works, saying he will sit down with Lions general manager Ed Hervey in the coming days to talk about players.

“When you can’t make plays, you must not have the right guys,” Buono said.

Riders coach Chris Jones said his team also has room to improve, despite Saturday’s win, their second straight.

“Nothing was perfect, certainly. We gave up a couple of big plays defensively that resulted in points. We gave up a kick-off return that gave up points. And offensively we stubbed our toe there in the middle of the game,” he said.