ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Fourteen points in the closing 2 minutes, 22 seconds and five takeaways on the day enabled University of St. Francis to escape with a 28-18 victory over Robert Morris University Illinois late Saturday afternoon at Morris Field. It also kept the Saints' hopes alive for at least a share of the Mid-States Football Association Midwest League crown with one game to go.
 

USF (4-5, 3-1 MSFA Midwest) just missed out on moving into a first-place tie with NAIA No.10 ranked Saint Xavier University on Saturday only to have the Cougars prevail in double overtime against Olivet Nazarene University, 30-29.
 

Senior wide receiver Lexus Jackson (University Park, Ill./Crete-Monee) got the Saints' fourth-quarter rally started with a 34-yard kickoff return moments after Robert Morris took its first lead of the game since early in the first quarter on a Jalen Smith 11-yard touchdown pass from Kenyatte Allen with 5:56 remaining in the contest.
 

Jackson followed his kickoff return with a 14-yard reception on a third-down play before hauling in the go-ahead, 11-yard touchdown pass in the northeast corner of the end zone from junior quarterback Aaron Ellis (Valparaiso, Ind./Boone River) to put the Saints back on top 20-18 with 2:22 to play. Grayson Barnette (Lenoir, N.C./West Caldwell) added the point-after touchdown to make it a three-point game.
 

Robert Morris (2-8, 1-3) went right back to work getting into St. Francis territory on a 17-yard pass play and a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty before the USF defense stepped up yet again. Junior defensive end Alex Zlomie (Wilmington, Ill./Wilmington) and freshman linebacker Tariq Thurman (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest H.S.) delivered a 10-yard sack before senior defensive back Arthur King (Jacksonville, Fla./Forrest) notched his second interception of the game and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown with 83 seconds to play to put the game out of reach. The defensive touchdown was the fourth in the last three weeks for the Saints and the third one by interception.
 

King also had two other key defensive plays, including setting up USF's first score of the game – a one-yard Perre' Barbarin (New Orleans, La./Saint Augustine) run – with a tipped pass that landed in the hands of freshman defensive back Antonio Lemon (Franklin Park, Ill./East Leyden). King's other interception stopped a red-zone drive by the Eagles in the first quarter with the pick coming just outside the St. Francis end zone.
 

Lemon also had two interceptions on the day with his other one coming early in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with a team-high 10 stops. Zlomie was next in line with six tackles, including 1.5 sacks and another tackle for loss.
 

The Saints built a 14-2 lead midway through the second quarter when sophomore wide receiver Mahlek Roberts (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) scored his first touchdown as a Saint on a six-yard pass play. Roberts also started the seven-play, 84-yard drive with a 41-yard reception, with Jackson adding a 35-yard catch during the series. Roberts' catches, including another for 36 yards, were the first three of the season for him and netted a game-high 83 yards.
 

The Saints had the opportunity to extend the lead even further after recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, but failed to convert on a first-and-goal series from the one-yard line, being denied on two run plays before getting sacked and missing a 23-yard field goal attempt.
 

Robert Morris, which scored on a safety after a bad snap from center went out of the Saints' end zone to start the game, answered with its own field goal just before the end of the half to send the Saints' into the break holding a 14-5 advantage.
 

Edward Clark got the Eagles back in the game in the second half, where he totaled 163 of his 217 yards on the ground. Following a St. Francis interception, he scored from 14 yards out in the third quarter to make it a 14-12 game. He then accounted for all but one of the 85 yards on the Eagles go-ahead drive midway through the fourth quarter, where he scored from 14 yards out.
 

Ellis finished the game completing 13 of his 23 pass attempts for 258 yards with the two touchdowns and one pick. Allen, his counterpart, was 17-for-41 yards for 235 yards with the one touchdown and four interceptions.
 

The Saints wrap up their season next Saturday when they host Trinity International University at Joliet Memorial Stadium. Kickoff time is slated for 1 p.m.