HAMILTON, Ontario (Ticker) -- Danny McManus threw three first-half touchdown passes as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats pulled away early and held on for a 40-34 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

McManus completed 25-of-39 passes for 479 yards and hit Mike Morreale with a 21-yard strike early in the second quarter to stake the Tiger-Cats to a 20-3 lead.

McManus found Darren Flutie with a 42-yard bomb in the waning moments of the first half. Flutie fumbled at the Saskatchewan 10, but the ball rolled into the end zone where Hamilton wide receiver Andrew Griggs pounced on it for a 34-6 advantage at the intermission.

The Roughriders got back into the contest early in the third, capitalizing on a pair of interceptions by McManus with touchdown drives. But Paul Osbaldiston kicked a field goal in both the third and fourth quarter as Hamilton managed to escape with a narrow victory.

Henry Burris was 17-of-30 for 170 yards for Saskatchewan and hit Eric Guilford with a 39-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter to pull his team within 37-27.

But Osbaldiston kicked a field goal before Burris' one-yard TD run with 19 seconds to play capped the scoring.