Morning Drive: Poor Eagles, Lagat Goes Long, All Eyes on Indiana - SWX Right Now-Sports for Spokane, CdA, Tri-Cities, WA

The Eastern Eagles erased a 12-point halftime deficit but were still unable to beat a hot-shooting Portland State team Monday night in Portland. The Eagles lost 89-80 despite a career-high 23 points from redshirt freshman Tyler Harvey. Venky Jois and Martin Seiferth both had near double-doubles, and senior guard Jeffrey Forbes had 17 points. Hey… at least we can see the Eagle offense is steadily improving!

There are more troubling details coming out about Olympian Oscar Pistorius and the murder of Reeva Steenkamp. He told prosecutors the shooting was in self-defense. Prosecutors say he "intentionally and mercilessly shot and killed 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp as she cowered inside a locked bathroom." It is such a sad story regardless of whether he is innocent or guilty.

Remember Washington State runner Bernard Lagat? Well, he has decided to run the longest race of his career next month. Now 38, Lagat will enter the NYC Half marathon. That should be interesting. He began his career running the 1,500m, then he almost won the bronze medal at the Olympics in the 5,000m. Now he will run 13.1 miles. Is there any doubt he will be successful? Good luck, my friend.

Gonzaga fans will want to take notice of Tuesday's night's game between No. 1 Indiana and No. 4 Michigan State. If Michigan State beats Indiana, you could see the No. 3 Zags reach their highest AP ranking ever next week – provided they can win their two games this week (Santa Clara and San Diego).

Congratulations to the Tri-City Americans for clinching a playoff berth! They made it into the postseason thanks to a loss by Prince George. By the way, you can catch Americans Power Play on SWX Wednesday night at 5:30 live from Kimo's in Richland.

Until next time, sports fans!