Connacht's hopes of reaching the United Rugby Championship play-offs suffered a major blow after a 26-7 defeat to Lions in Johannesburg.
Heading to South Africa on the back of three successive defeats, the province were unable to turn around their fortunes to leave them five points adrift of the top eight with two rounds remaining.
A Renzo du Plessis try in the 13th minute was followed by two Kade Wolhuter penalties to give Lions an 11-0 lead at the break.
Another Wolhuter three-pointer early in the second half extended Lions' lead before both teams had a try chalked off.
JC Pretorius crossed for Lions' second try 11 minutes later but Connacht got on the board shortly afterwards through Eoin de Buitlear, which David Hackshaw converted.
But Lions had the final say when Edwill van der Merwe dotted down, Lubabalo Dobela adding the extras, as they kept alive their own top-eight chances after snapping a four-game losing streak.
Lions: Q. Horn, R. Kriel, H. van Wyk, Mills, van der Merwe, Wolhuter, van den Berg, Naude, Visagie, Ntlabakanye, R. Schoeman, Delport, Pretorius, Du Plesis, Cairns.
Replacements: Botha, Kotze, R. Schoeman, Landsberg, Esterhuizen, Steyn, Dobela, Jonker.
Connacht: O'Conor, Bolton, Hawkshaw, Forde, Jennings, Carty, Devine, Dooley, Heffernan, Aungier, J. Murphy, Joyce, Prendergast, Oliver, Jansen.
Replacements: De Buitlear, Duggan, Illo, Dowling, Boyle, C. Reilly, Gavin, Cordero.
Referee: Hollie Davidson
