Justin Medlock did some heavy lifting with five field goals and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defence got some timely late stops as they held on to first in the East Division with a 19-17 win over the B.C. Lions on Saturday.

B.C. got on the board in the first. Seconds after a Paul McCallum field goal, Josh Johnson ran an interception to the house to give the B.C. Lions an early 10-0 lead.

The Ticats took the lead early in the third quarter, though, with Medlock hitting his fourth field goal of the game.

B.C. would regain the lead in the third when Manny Arceneaux showed off his quarterback skills, finding Shawn Gore in the end zone, but a pair of safeties and another Medlock field goal would provide the Ticats with the points they needed to hold on.