Tulsa - Roderick Pearson hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer to lead Oral Roberts to an 83-81 win over Stanford in the opening round of the Cancun Challenge Wednesday night in Palo Alto, California.

The Golden Eagles (2-1) trailed 2-0 early before scoring 12 straight points, including a three-pointer by Michael Craion that gave ORU a 12-2 advantage with 14:13 left in the first half.

The lead later grew to 23-9 before the Cardinal outscored ORU 26-12 to end the half tied at 35 apiece.

ORU again came out hot in the second half, taking a 57-48 lead on Craion's jumper with 12:54 left in the game. But, Stanford battled back, scoring 11straight to retake the lead.

Both teams traded the lead down the stretch. Pearson sank two free throws to give the Golden Eagles an 81-78 lead with just nine seconds remaining.

But, Stanford quickly tied the score when Jarrett Mann made one of two free throws to get within two, then off the offensive rebound, Landry Fields laid one in with five seconds left.

The inbounds went to Pearson, who weaved his way through the Cardinal defense and released the shot just before the buzzer sounded.

While Pearson's game winner was the biggest shot of the night, one of the brightest spots of the evening was the play of Dominique Morrison. The ORU sophomore poured in a career-high 31 points, including a string of seven straight that rallied the Golden Eagles from down 77-72 to a 79-77 lead with 19 seconds remaining.

Morrison was 13-of-19 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point range. He also led ORU with nine rebounds and three assists. Craion finished with 13 points and Damen Bell-Holter added 12.

Fields led Stanford (1-2) with 28 points.

Oral Roberts will continue play in the Cancun Challenge Saturday against Virginia at 1 p.m. in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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