Jones’ side played out a bonus point battling draw with the South African province in horrendous conditions in Bridgend in a match which could have gone either way.
Wales fly-half Dan Edwards could have taken all the points for the Ospreys but missed a 79th-minute penalty which would have edged the contest, while Lions wing Angelo Davids spurned a stoppage time last-gasp effort for a try.
Full of emotion, the Ospreys handled the situation admirably, given everything going on off-field.
Tries from flanker James Ratti, full-back Iestyn Hopkins, number eight Morgan Morse, and wing Daniel Kasende would be reward for taking the game to their opposition with ball in hand.
Lions responded with two tries from captain Francke Horn and further scores from hooker PJ Botha and full-back Quon Horn.
Wales captain Dewi Lake escaped a red card for a dangerous tackle as the Ospreys hooker was one of four players sin-binned during a physical and emotive encounter.
Lions remain in seventh place, while Ospreys rise one spot to eighth and into the play-off places.
“I’m always proud of the boy’s effort,” said Jones.
“There aren’t many games where I can turn around and say we haven’t matched the opposition with effort.
“I thought we played some good rugby in large patches, but I’m frustrated with the end result.
“It was awesome. There is always going to be ebbs and flows in the game where you make some bad decisions or some skill errors.
“You wouldn’t have known the ball was wet the way we held it and the bravery we showed off the ball under pressure.
“We tried to keep the ball alive, and the Lions defended courageously to keep us out. It was a tough wind aerially and from a passing perspective.
“In a game like that with the weather like it is, those penalties, knock-ons, and errors that you force are big momentum swingers.
“We knew it was going to be close right up until the end. The game started like that, and it proved to be. It’s just a shame we couldn’t quite get it done.
“But just think what those guys have been through the last week, and to go out there and do what they did was class from them, and we deserved more.”
Despite not being able to secure maximum points on the night, the Ospreys’ form since the turn of the year in the current block has seen Jones’ side rise from the foot of the URC table to play-off contention, whilst also seeing progress into the knockout phase of the Challenge Cup.
“It is three important points, and now we have to get as many as we can out of the Dragons game. If we can do that, it would have been a good block for us,” continued Jones.
“We would have got through to a European knockout and put ourselves up into a play-off position should we get the result next week, which is positive.
“The boys will have a couple of days now and we will reflect on the performance and the goings on this week and then we will rip in for what will be a huge task against the Dragons.
“They are going to be a tough opposition; they were earlier in the year when we drew. We were frustrated with how that ended, so we’ll look forward to preparing for that match.”
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
