Just like 2008, the B.C. Lions begin the CFL regular season looking up at their division rivals with an 0-2 start after losing 31-28 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Friday night at B.C. Place.

"We didn't make plays," said Lions head coach Wally Buono. "There's got to be a greater level of consistency.

"This is professional football."

Hamilton opened the scoring seven minutes in when kicker Nick Setta thumped a 51-yard field goal.

B.C. struck back on their next possession after slotback Paris Jackson outsmarted the double coverage to snag a 29 yard pass for a touchdown. The score capped off an eight-play, 90-yard drive. A two-point conversion attempt failed.

After a Setta missed field goal that went through the end zone for a single, the Lions were aided by a pass interference call against Hamilton defensive back Bo Smith, bringing them inside the Ti-Cats' 20.

B.C. made Hamilton pay four plays later when Geroy Simon caught a pass in the flat and ran the ball in from five yards out. The convert gave the Lions a 13-4 lead. A shanked field goal attempt by kicker Paul McCallum stretched their lead to 10.

Hamilton cut the Lions' lead to three when quarterback Quinton Porter, who hit on 19 of his 24 passes, scampered in for a 13-yard touchdown halfway through the second quarter. A Setta kick with 2:09 left in the half knotted the game at 14.

With Ian Smart missing the game due to a groin injury, Martell Mallett got the start at running back for the Lions and ran for an impressive 82 yards on 16 carries.

After a Lions two-and-out, a McCallum punt was returned 56 yards by Marquay McDaniel with the Lions' kicker dragging McDaniel to the ground.

McCallum injured his right medial collateral ligament on the play and missed the rest of the game. Fourth-string quarterback Travis Lulay as well as slotback Paris Jackson and backup safety Tad Crawford split the kicking duties for the remainder of the game.

Hamilton took the lead when Lions quarterback Buck Pierce fired a dart right into the arms of Ti-Cats' defensive back Geoff Tisdale, who ran the ball back 40 yards untouched for the major. A third field goal from Setta toward the end of the third gave Hamilton a 24-14 lead.

The Lions got inside the Hamilton five yard-line after a 26-yard catch-and-run play by Mallett but it took a third-down gamble and a one-yard push from backup quarterback Jarious Jackson to get the Leos back within three.

Hamilton gave themselves more breathing room seven minutes into the final quarter, when Cobb caught a lob from Porter, shook several tackles and waltzed 38 yards for the score.

B.C. made the game closer with two minutes to go when rookie receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux made a spectacular 42-yard touchdown catch, out-jumping Tisdale. Crawford hit the convert to bring the score to 31-28.

With less than a minute to go and the Lions driving down the field, Pierce was picked off by ex-Lion Otis Floyd, giving Hamilton their first win of the season.

GAME NOTES: The Lions couldn't stop Hamilton's shifty rookie running back, DeAndra' Cobb, who made his debut for the Ti-Cats after spending the last two years out of football count, putting up 100 yards on the ground and 75 through the air. Cobb is a former all-American at Michigan State and played briefly for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons.

Tyler Ebell, the heavily-tattooed former Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos running back, made his debut for the Lions on Friday, and acted as the team's primary kick returner, running back six kickoffs for 129 yards and one punt for 13.

After Lions back-up quarterback Travis Lulay kicked his first punt, he was told he couldn't return to the field as a kicker because he is listed on the roster as a quarterback. His lone punt traveled 49 yards. After the game, Buono said he was lucky the team didn't get a penalty for letting Lulay punt.

Buono also said that the team will be activating kicker Sean Whyte from the injured list if McCallum can't play next week. Whyte is a White Rock native who played junior football for the Big Kahuna Rams in 2006 and 2007.

Ex-Lions linebacker Jamall Johnson, who was released by the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers last month and signed with Hamilton July 4, led the team with 11 defensive tackles Friday night. He also had two special teams stops.