Villanova: 2018-19 Big East Men's Basketball Champions

NEW YORK (AP) – Villanova became the first team to win three consecutive Big East Tournaments, beating Seton Hall 74-72 on Saturday night behind seniors Eric Paschall and Phil Booth and key contributions from freshman Saddiq Bey.

Seton Hall star Myles Powell, guarded closely by Booth, missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds that could have won it. Booth was called for traveling as he tried to corral the rebound, however, and the Pirates got one more chance with 0.4 seconds left. Anthony Nelson’s long inbounds pass bounced off the backboard and was slapped away by the Wildcats, who got to party on the Madison Square Garden floor yet again.

The 25th-ranked and top-seeded Wildcats (25-9) were in the Big East final for a fifth straight year, and have won four of the last five championships. The only loss during that span was to Seton Hall in 2016, and Powell and the third-seeded Pirates (20-13) gave Villanova all it could handle once again.

Powell scored 25 points to cap a spectacular three days at Madison Square Garden for the high-scoring guard.

Paschall had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Booth scored 16 points and was selected most outstanding player of the tournament. Bey, who Villanova fans hope will lead the next wave of championship teams, had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Villanova had a chance to seal it in the final 30 seconds but Paschall was called for a charge when he lowered his shoulder into Myles Cale with 24 seconds left. Powell quickly scored inside at the other end to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 73-72 with 15.5 seconds left.

The Pirates sent Paschall to the line with 13.7 seconds remaining and he made the first and missed the second. Seton Hall rebounded and called a timeout to set up a final play with 8.9 seconds left.

UP NEXT

Seton Hall: The Pirates are headed to their fourth straight NCAA Tournament, matching a school best (1991-94).

Villanova: The defending national champions will be in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight season, but will probably be seeded worse than a 2 for the first time since 2013.

Northern Colorado: 2018 College Insider Tournament Champions

The University of Northern Colorado will have to make some extra room in its trophy case at Bank of Colorado Arena.

The trophy that the Bears' men's basketball team earned from winning Friday afternoon's CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament is bigger than usual.

In fact, it's made out of solid wood.

The Bears let 6-foot-9 redshirt senior Tanner Morgan hoist the trophy above the fans who stormed the floor after the victory.

"He's the tallest," said senior Andre Spight, whose career ended with a 23-point performance.

UNC's title comes two years after being hit with NCAA infractions for violations committed by the former coaching staff, and included not participating in postseason play last season.

"It doesn't make any difference," redshirt sophomore guard Jonah Radebaugh said. "We just kept working and kept winning."

The Bears needed a strong defensive effort in the final two minutes to secure the victory over the Flames, who traveled for all three of their CIT games.

"Nobody complained, not once," UIC coach Steve McClain said. "We went on the road for the first one, and the second one when it was announced we'd have to come here, we got ready."

McClain is close friends with UNC golf coach Roger Prenzlow, who called him to inform him that a sellout crowd was expected.

"I said 'great,' McClain said. "We've gone on the road and played in front of huge crowds and won in Oakland and we've been on television in front of big crowds before."

UIC senior forward Tai Odiase said UNC's overflow crowd was as much of an inspiration to the Flames as it was the Bears.

"It was great," Odiase said.

The Flames were set to retrace their travel path to get home, including a four-hour flight to Washington, D.C., followed by a three-hour bus ride to Chicago.

Murray State: 2018 Ohio Valley Men's Basketball Champions

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Jonathan Stark finished with 24 points and Ja Morant added 15 to give Murray State a 68-51 victory over Belmont on Saturday night in the Ohio Valley Conference championship game.

With the win, the Racers (26-5) became the first team to qualify for the NCAA tournament. They advance for the first time since 2012 and will await to learn their seeding on March 11.

Murray State earned revenge over Belmont, which had won the previous two times the schools met in the OVC title game in 2013 and 2015. The Racers extended their winning streak to 13, the longest in the nation after Michigan State lost to Michigan in the Big Ten Conference tournament semifinal earlier Saturday.

The Racers went on a 16-3 run in the last seven minutes of the game to put it out of reach. Shaq Buchanan connected on a 3-pointer with 3:23 remaining to boost the lead to 62-49. Murray State made seven 3-pointers and shot 43.8 percent from beyond the arc in the second half.

Belmont led 32-29 at halftime after trailing by 12 early in the game. It used a 15-2 run over the final six minutes of the first half to take the lead.

Kevin McClain finished with 17 points, and Dylan Windler had 10 for the Bruins.

BIG PICTURE

Belmont: The Bruins have won at least 20 games each season since they left the Atlantic Sun and joined the OVC in 2013.

Murray State: The Racers matched their highest win total in six years, when they went 31-2 and were the No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament.

UP NEXT

Belmont: Hoping for an invite to the National Invitation Tournament.

Murray State: NCAA tournament.

Fresno State: 2017 Hawaii Bowl Champions

HONOLULU -- Marcus McMaryion could not have envisioned this success when he joined Fresno State four months ago.

McMaryion threw for a career-best 342 yards and Jimmy Camacho made four field goals to help Fresno State beat Houston 33-27 on Sunday in the Hawaii Bowl.

The Oregon State-transfer completed 33 of 48 passes to tie the Hawaii bowl record for completions set by Hawaii's Colt Brennan against Arizona State in 2006 and also matched by Fresno State's Derek Carr against SMU in 2012.

"I definitely came to just kind of help out and change the program, but I would be lying if I told you that I thought I'd be standing in this position right now, but I'm just glad that I was able to experience it with these guys," said McMaryion, who joined the team in early August as a junior.

"I think I fell into a really good situation. When I got here the guys had the attitude and the work ethic and someone else said that I was just the cherry on top of it. The work ethic and everything was instilled that coach (Jeff) Tedford brought here, so it was just a great year overall and it's great to finish with a `W," McMaryion said.

The Bulldogs (10-4) had their first 10-win season in five years and completed the biggest turnaround in FBS this season. They went 1-11 last year and became just the second team in FBS history to go from double-digit losses one season to double-digit wins the next.

"It's a great way to end the season here in Hawaii after a great week with win number 10, but it's all about these kids," Tedford said.

The Cougars (7-5) were seeking their fifth consecutive season of eight or more wins.

Camacho was busy in his final game for Fresno State. He attempted six field goals, with makes of 27, 38, 26 and 33 yards, but missed a 56-yarder in the second quarter -- which would have been a career long -- and had a 24-yard try blocked and returned for a touchdown in the third quarter. Camacho broke the Hawaii Bowl record for field goals.

Fresno State finished with 480 yards of total offense to Houston's 341.

Defensive tackle Ed Oliver, the first underclassman to win the Outland Trophy, had his first career carry -- a 1-yard touchdown run -- to cap Houston's first scoring drive in the first quarter.

Camacho lined up a 24-yard field goal attempt late in the third quarter, but it was blocked by Houston's Jeremy Winchester and returned 94 yards for a touchdown by Alexander Myres.

The Bulldogs took the lead for good on Camacho's 26-yard field goal with 13:57 left to play and stretched the lead to 26-20 with his 33-yarder with six minutes remaining.

Jaron Bryant's 44-yard interception return for a TD off a deflection with 3:49 wrapped up the win. D'Eriq King's pass was batted up in the air by defensive end Robert Stanley and fell into the hands of Bryant, who maneuvered his way along the left sideline for the score.

KeeSean Johnson caught eight passes for 95 yards for Fresno State and went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season.

Steven Dunbar, one of two senior receivers for the Cougars, had seven receptions for 168 yards.

McMaryion and Dunbar were selected as the game's most valuable players for each team.

THE TAKEAWAY

Houston: The Cougars brought the second-best completion percentage in the country at 70.1 percent. King completed 23 of his 43 pass attempts (53.5 percent) for 269 yards with an interception

Fresno State: The Bulldogs entered allowing 116.6 rushing yards per game, the fifth-best mark in FBS. They held the Cougars to 72 rush yards -- well below their per-game average of 175.5 -- on 30 carries, an average of just 2.4 yards per attempt.

UP NEXT

Houston, which must replace five starters on each side of the ball, will open its 2018 campaign on the road, but not far from home, when it visits Rice on Sept. 1.

Fresno State will lose a total of five starters from this year's squad. It will start off Tedford's sophomore season at his alma mater at home against Idaho on Sept. 1.

St. Peter's: 2017 College Insider.com Tournament Champions

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- Quadir Welton had a double-double and Trevis Wyche made the winning free throw with less than a second remaining and Saint Peter's won the CIT championship with a 62-61 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday night.

Cavon Baker scored 15 points to lead the Peacocks (23-13). Welton, the CollegeInsider.com Tournament MVP, had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

"A lot of emotion. I'm very happy right now," Welton, the newphew of former NBA standout Rasheed Wallace, said. "We've been doing it all season. I'm happy for my team, happy for our school."

Saint Peter's trailed most of the game had its biggest lead, 60-55, after Chazz Patterson made two free throws with 1:01 to play. Cole Martinez made it a two-point game with a 3-pointer from the right corner with 14.5 seconds left. After Bake made 1 of 2 free throws, Martinez was fouled on a desperation 3-point attempt with three seconds left and he calmly tied the game.

The Peacocks threw the ball into the front court and called a time out. On the inbounds play from in front of their bench, they went over the top to Baker, who drove toward the basket from the left wing and was fouled as he went up for the shot with .9 to play. After his first free throw rolled in, he missed the second on purpose

Rashawn Thomas had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Islanders (24-12) and Kareem South had 11 points.

The Islanders got off to a quick start, using a 9-0 run to go up 11-3 less than five minutes into the game. Baker and Antwon Portley had back-to-back 3s to make it a two-point game. Elijah Cook answered with five straight and after a Saint Peter's basket Thomas scored seven straight to make it 23-11 with 7:51 to go.

Welton sparked a 15-0 run, scoring the first six points, with a 3-pointer by Samuel Idowu putting Saint Peter's ahead 26-23 with 1:44 left. Ehab Amin tied it with a 3-pointer and Joseph Kilgore put the Islanders on top 28-26 at the break.

The Islanders surged ahead by eight with 13:40 to go but Saint Peter's quickly erased that and the game was tight down the stretch.

Saint Peter's, which lost in the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference semifinals, won by four points at Albany, New York, and four at Texas State, before beating Furman by 26 at home in the semifinals on Wednesday, before returning to Texas.

Saint Francis (IN): 2016 NAIA Football Champions

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – (Box Score) Three touchdown receptions by NAIA All-America wide receiver Seth Coate propelled No. 4 Saint Francis (Ind.) to the programs first-ever national title with a 38-17 victory over No. 2 Baker (Kan.) at the 2016 NAIA Football National Championship, presented by Waste Pro. The banner comes 25 years to the day since the Cougar’s Hall of Fame head coach Kevin Donley won his first career title while at Georgetown (Ky.).

“It’d been 25 years since I’ve won one, and I sure as heck don’t want to wait another 25,” said Donley. “The last couple weeks I’ve had people ask me what makes this team so special. It’s unique people that care about each other. They love each other, and they have a passion for the game. There was a tremendous commitment from these guys for the last 11 months to get to this point today.”

Saint Francis, which entered the night 0-3 all-time in the national final, is the fifth champion out of the list six seasons from the Mid-States Football Association. Saint Xavier (Ill.) (2011), Marian (Ind.) (2012, 2015) and Grand View (Iowa) (2013) were the others.

Coate ended the game with nine catches for 180 yards – the most since Marian’s Anthony Jones Jr. went for 234 receiving yards in the 2014 championship – and three touchdowns. With the three scores, the Fort Wayne, Ind., native set the NAIA’s single-season receiving touchdowns record (25). Coate was named the National Championship’s Outstanding Offensive Player of the Game.

Cougar quarterback Nick Ferrer, who threw for only 63 yards in the first half, ended the game with 245 passing yards and three touchdowns – the 10th time he’s thrown for three-or-more scores. He completed 18-of-30 throws and was not intercepted for the eighth-straight contest.

Saint Francis defensive lineman Lucas Sparks was named the Outstanding Defensive Player of the Game. He tallied six tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Sparks also forced and recovered a fumble.

Outside of the game’s opening drive, which resulted in a 25-yard Clarence Clark field goal, Saint Francis controlled the tempo during the game’s opening 30 minutes en route to a 17-3 lead at the break. The Cougars held an 18:46 to 11:14 advantage in time of possession, and a 206-132 lead in total yards in the first half.

Saint Francis lit the scoreboard on its first drive of the game, as quarterback Nick Ferrer ended a seven-play, 56-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown strike to Coate. The score extended Coate’s NAIA record consecutive touchdown streak to 27 games – a standard previously held by Greg Thomas of Clinch Valley (Va.) (23 consecutive).

The Cougars added to their lead late in the first quarter, 10-3, on a season-best 44-yard field goal by Ryan Nix.

The first half scoring ended with Saint Francis’ Justin Green scampering 39 yards to pay dirt to round out the opening stanza’s scoring.

Baker cut the deficit to 17-10 with 6:35 left in the third quarter when Logan Brettell linked up with a diving Damon Nolan for a 13-yard touchdowns strike.

However, Saint Francis responded with a pair of long touchdown passes from Ferrer to Coate on back-to-back possessions to seize complete control of the game, 31-10, with a little over 12 minutes remaining. The first score was a game-high 59-yard scoring strike, followed by a 36-yarder after a Baker punt.

The two teams traded touchdowns over the course of the final four minutes with Baker’s Cornell Brown bursting through the pile for a 1-yard score before P.J. Dean of Saint Francis scampered 28 yards to lead to the final tally.

As a team, Saint Francis recorded 443 total yards, while Baker registered 403 yards.

Brown was arguably the player of the game for Baker, as the junior ran for 103 yards and a touchdown, while also leading the receiving corps with 13 catches for 81 yards. With the performance, Brown ends the year with 1,418 rushing yards and 871 receiving yards. He also accounted for 31 touchdowns.

Brettell, who on Friday was announced as the NAIA’s National Player of the Year, ended the game with 263 yards passing, including the aforementioned touchdown.

With the loss, Baker falls to 14-1 on the season and 0-2 all-time in the national championship. The Wildcats, whose other title game appearance came in 1986, was the only remaining unbeaten team in NAIA football.

2016 NAIA Football National Championship Awards
Outstanding Offensive Player of the Game – Seth Coate, Saint Francis (Ind.) (WR)
Outstanding Defensive Player of the Game – Lucas Sparks, Saint Francis (Ind.) (DL)

Saint Francis (Ind.) Game Notes
• Saint Francis becomes the 48th different NAIA program in the 61-year history to win the national championship.
• The football national championship is the third in Saint Francis school history – the women’s basketball team (NAIA Division II) won the banner in 2014 and the men’s basketball team (NAIA Division II) earned the title in 2010.
• Saint Francis earns its first football national title and moves to 1-3 all-time in the winner-take-all battle. The Cougars competed three-straight years from 2004-06, but came out on the losing end during those years.
• Saint Francis boasts 16 all-time appearances in the FCS and a 27-15 overall record. The FCS win total ranks third all-time, trailing Carroll (Mont.) (42) and former member Westminster (Pa.) (31).
• With a touchdown on their opening drive tonight, the Cougars now have reached the end zone offensively in seven of 14 games this year on its first offensive possession.
• Seth Coate, after a five-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, now has been on the receiving end of a score in 27-straight contests dating back to end of 2014 season. The mark is a NAIA record.
• Coate added a second receiving touchdown – a 59-yarder in the third quarter – to give him 24 touchdown receptions in 2016. That season total set a new NAIA record, breaking former Saint Francis’ wide receiver Jeremy Dutcher in 2000 – Dutcher went for 23 that season.
• Coate is the first player since 2014 to catch three touchdown receptions, after he found pay dirt from 36 yards out in the fourth quarter. He has now finished with three TDs in three of his four postseason games this year.
• Nick Ferrer went 18-for-30 passing tonight for 245 touchdowns and three touchdowns. He now stands with 51 total touchdowns on the year.
• Ryan Nix nailed a season-long 44-yard field goal in the first quarter. The length was the longest in a NAIA championship game since 2014.
• In the first half, the Cougar defense held Baker to 132 total yards of offense and three first-half points – Baker entered the game ranked No. 3 nationally in scoring (49.9) and No. 3 in total offense per game (546.1).
• Running back Justin Green eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark in the first half with 104 yards. He posted his fourth-straight 100-yard contest as he went for just one 100-yarder in one of his first 10 games.
• Saint Francis head coach Kevin Donley is the NAIA active and all-time coaching wins leader with a 302-129-1 record. He is in his 38th year as a head coach and 18th as the leader of the Saint Francis football program.
• Championship Defensive MVP Lucas Sparks finished the campaign ranked in the top 10 in both total sacks (12.5) and tackles for loss (23.0). He posted 1.5 sacks and 2.5 TFLs tonight.

Baker (Kan.) Game Notes
• Logan Brettell completed his first six passes (6-7) of the opening drive to four different receivers, which cumulated in a field goal by Clarence Clark (26 yards).
• Baker was ranked 21st nationally in third-down conversion defense (33.9%). Tonight, Saint Francis went 7-for-16 (44 percent) on 3rd down conversions.
• Baker faced its largest first-quarter deficit of the season (seven points).
• Ranked seventh in the NAIA in sacks against (1.00) – allowed five in Championship game.
• As a team, posted only 132 total yards of offense at halftime and finished with 403 total yards (ranked third in nation with 546.1 ypg)
• Cornell Brown set a season high in receptions (13)… his previous high was 11 against Benedictine (Kan.) on Sept. 24, 2016.
• Cornell Brown notched his 24th rushing touchdown of the year after his one-yard plunge late in the fourth quarter.
• This marked only the second game all year Baker did not have an interception on defense… Eastern Oregon was the other game.
• This was Baker’s first loss of the season and worst loss since 2013.
• Cornell Brown finished the game with 13 receptions for 81 yards and 18 rushes for 103 yards and a touchdown.
• Logan Brettell went 34-for-50 for 263 yards and one touchdown passing. The one touchdown was a season low for Brettell.
• Was 6-for-20 (30 percent) on third downs in the game – was 41.3% on third downs on season.

General Game Notes
• The team to score first has won each of the past 10 championship tilts. The last team to counter that was former member Sioux Falls (S.D.) in 2006 when the Cougars came from behind to defeat Saint Francis, 23-19.
• Saint Francis earned the fifth title in the last six years for the Mid-States Football Association.
• The Cougars led 17-3 at halftime. Five of the last six champions held the lead after 30 minutes.
• Saint Francis sophomore Justin Green rushed for 140 yards on 24 carries, becoming the first player to rush for 100 yards in a championship game since D’Angelo Jordan in a losing effort for Cumberlands (Ky.) in 2013.
• The 44-yard field goal by Saint Francis’ Ryan Nix in the first quarter was just the fourth 40-plus yard field goal in a championship game since 1997.
• With 44 seconds left in the third quarter, Saint Francis’ Nick Ferrer found Seth Coate for a 59-yard touchdown pass for the longest play of the game. The two also connected for the longest pass play of the postseason with a 91-yard pass against Missouri Valley.
• Coate had three touchdown receptions for the third time this postseason. He is just the second player with three touchdown catches in a championship game. His 180 yards on nine catches are the second most in a championship game.
• Baker quarterback Logan Brettell completed 34 passes to six different receivers. With the loss, the NAIA Player of the Year is now 7-7 in the championship game since the award began in 1997.
• The top Wildcat target was Cornell Brown with 13 catches, marking the third straight championship with a receiver making 10 or more receptions. His 13 catches are also a personal season-high.

NAIA National Championship Quotes
Saint Francis (Ind.)
Head Coach Kevin Donley
On winning the championship…
“It’d been 25 years since I’ve won one, and I sure as heck don’t want to wait another 25. It’s a great feeling. The last couple weeks I’ve had people ask me what makes this team so special. It’s unique people that care about each other. They love each other, and they have a passion for the game. There was a tremendous commitment from these guys for the last 11 months to get to this point today.”

On the first half fumble that led to a touchdown…
“I knew when we got the running game going, and it wasn’t as consistent as we would have liked, but that run forced them to do some things on the back end to get another hat in the box to stop the run and we were able to get a couple big plays in the second half from that.”

On matching up on the line…
“We’re in the toughest league in the NAIA. You get through our conference schedule and you get to the postseason, you position yourself to host a round or two, and you feel like you have a pretty good chance. We played their rival in the first round and scored 79, which gave us confidence. We knew Baker was a better football team, but we had confidence. I don’t think anyone doubted we were going to win this game.”

Quarterback Nick Ferrer
On using the deep passing game…
“They started to play run support heavy. They had to make a decision with their safeties and their back end with our running game if they wanted to bring their safeties down or cut those corners for run support on the outside. Once we had a little success with the run game, we decided to go up top and play action them, and used our double moves, and really opened up the game for us.”

Wide Receiver Seth Coates
On the St. Francis defense…
“We went into the half, and (Baker) had three points. They’re supposed to be this big high-powered offense. As an offensive player, I don’t think we were performing to our standard, to what we expected. So, we were in their thanking the defense for their efforts and told them if they get a couple more stops, we promised we’d go score for them. When you have great team play like that, special teams that are solid play by play, it’s hard to lose.”

Lucas Sparks
On using the pass rush to slow down the Baker passing game…
“We knew that we were really good pass rushers all season long. Coming into this game, we had 40 sacks this year, and the school record is 46. That’s something we really prided ourselves on was our ability to rush the passer. Them not really playing anyone like us, we felt we had an advantage and executed our moves.”

Baker (Kan.)
Baker Head Coach Mike Grossner…
“The stat sheet looks fairly even, but as you watch that game, we didn’t make enough plays. You have to make plays in big games and you can’t give up the big play in crucial situations, which we did. I thought in the third quarter we came out and got back in the game quickly. We were down one score and didn’t convert on a drive, and they punched it and got up two scores.”

On the Saint Francis Defensive Front…
“I think their front three and four guys got after us. We knew coming in if we could give Logan (Brettell) time to throw the ball down the field, we would have had some good opportunities. Their defensive front dictated to us in the passing game what we were trying to do. We knew going in they were pretty talented up front and that’s where they won the game.”

On quarterback Logan Brettell…
“Fantastic year. He got every possible award on and off the field. You look at the sheet, we threw the ball 50 times, but only had 263 yards. That tells you a lot about where the ball was going. It was going short. That’s the key to the game that we couldn’t get the ball vertical more.”

Defensive Lineman Nick Becker…
On the defensive breakdowns in the back end…
“That’s what they do, that’s their game, that’s what we saw on film. Their running back (Justin Green) hesitates and waits for guys to open up. We prepared for that, we knew what to expect, but coverage sometimes was too wide.”

Running back Cornell Brown…
On leading his hometown team to the championship game…
“It’s awesome. The home town has been supporting me the whole time, which is a good feeling. We had a good season, and it’s good for us to have that respect and support.”

Rise To The Top Of The World.

This is my country, a nation forged on ideals, values, choices, hard work and sacrifice, built on freedoms, liberties, justice and determination, a land in existence for more than two centuries and scores apiece. This is the United States of America, a democratic republic whose foundation of law lies within its Constitutions, who comprise of a collection of 50 states and territories stretching through numerous time zones, from Guam and Hawaii and Alaska in the Pacific, to the reaches of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in the Atlantic and the Caribbean.

Great nations are able to come together after making massive, historical decisions that have put its future at a crossroads. Those who make the laws and enforce it are able to defeat those who dare interfere with the processes it has conducted for generations upon generations. The USA, as this country is known, is an example of a nation capable of weathering the backlash that comes from a destiny it chooses. On Tuesday, 8 November 2016, this great democracy is ready to decide the path it wants to choose.

It can choose to become exclusive and risk war with the outside world by electing a multi-billionaire outcast in Donald J. Trump, running on the Republican Party ticket with a proven government leader from Indiana in Michael Pence. It can chose to go on a completely different path and choose Jillian Stein of the Green Party or Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party. Or, it can go the route of the Democratic Party and elect Hillary Rodham Clinton, the husband of former president William Jefferson Clinton, running on the ticket to become the first-ever President of the United States, the first-ever female Leader of the Free World, whose running mate for Vice President is Virginia's Timothy Kaine.

A divisive election built to be glorified through television dramas and movies and fictional works has seen drama from the supporters of Vermont Democrat Bernard Sanders, one-sided debates, the rise of the so-called Alt-Right Movement forged by 4chan and unsavory young adults and not-so-young adults and whose mascot is an unassuming frog named Pepe, the email revelations, the unnecessary intervention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the fall from grace of James Comey, its head honcho. Yet the real voters who participate in this election already have their choices in mind and also take a stand in their local races for offices in the House of Representatives, the Senate, the state legislatures and judicial offices, and the many local measures that will impact their daily lives and their future.

The overall collective belief based on numerous sources, research, exit polls, word of mouth, and other official and unofficial sources is that the Democratic Party will retain the presidency and the first black president in Barack Hussein Obama II will be succeeded by the first female president in Hillary Clinton, meaning that daughter Chelsea will be the next in line to make a stand in the American political arena. Things can change in the span of hours and nothing is for certain in the battleground states that determine the fates of races. In 2000, a situation regarding Florida regarding the state being called too early swung the race from Al Gore to George W. Bush. The volatility of battleground states drives the betting markets outside of America.

Around the world, stock markets are paying attention to the returns and are accordingly selling or buying. With every state that is called, the traders will be making calls across the floor, the collective stress and tension being rampant. Chain reactions are a vital part to a race such as the US Presidential Election being relevant. After all, in spite of complaints of racism in American society (which can never be eradicated from the world without the eradication of the human race, and so the collective attitude of the haves must be moderated against the have-nots), the United States remains a global leader and is the beacon of hope in the West and takes a stand against its adversaries such as Russia and China and North Korea and perhaps Iran.

Nobody can really guess correctly what the opinion of the American people is. Sometimes it can choose to follow through with the opinion of the media, and sometimes it can choose to ignore the media and go the opposite way to deliberately spite the media. We are a land of choices, and as Americans, we are in no obligation to follow the herd, go with the flow, join a bandwagon or majority rules campaign. We choose what we want. Even if the consensus may not agree with us, our choices counts, our votes count, and now is the time to make a stand and vote in this general election.

You know, we should be more like Australia, a nation that requires its people to vote when they reach the required age. Paying a $20 fine may not be too much, but imagine if the fine gets levied up to a higher penalty. Perhaps if Americans choose not to vote, they must pay a fee.

The Islamic State, the one terrorist organization that the USA is committed to wiping off the face of the Earth, institutes something similar in its jurisdictions but under different rules, called a jizya. In this case, if an American citizen does not vote, he or she will need to pay $100 to the federal government. That's a ballpark number, but that in itself would be a reason to actually go out an vote. Voter turnout is a problem in this country and if we choose to fine people for not voting, it would significantly alleviate the problem. There will be people who may argue that this in conflict of freedom of choice, but the Constitution itself has some obvious flaws and loopholes that are being exploited by many in the know.

Other than that, I want each and every one of you from America to know that on Tuesday, if you haven't voted early and wrapped it up (like my father did, and that was his first-ever election because he became a U.S. citizen last year), go to the polls and make your choice. If you've been checking my other profiles of perhaps reading between the lines of this piece, you know who I support and who I will vote for so I don't have to tell you. Make your decision then watch the drama unfold and dive into the social media frenzy afterwards. It's fun, you'll love it.

Just remember that if you are a Republican voter and Donald doen't win the presidency, accept the defeat with class and get on with your live. Don't do anything stupid, don't commit any acts of violence that you will regret because it will be on your record forever and in some case, you deserve to die at the hands of the law. The end of the world is not on Wednesday. The world continues to go on.

Make your choice, America. Your country needs you.