MANILA—Mark Chan buried a fearless, cold-blooded three-point buzzer-beater to drag the Ombudsman Graftbusters past OP Bagong Pilipinas, 71-68, in a heart-stopping Game 1 of the UNTV Cup Season 12 best-of-three semifinals on August 26 at the Paco Arena. 

The dramatic victory pushed the Graftbusters within a single win of the tournament finals, seizing early momentum in the high-stakes series.  

In a tense fourth-quarter showdown where every possession mattered, Chan stepped up as the hero when his team needed him most. 

Taking the game into his own hands as the clock ticked down, he let fly from beyond the arc to break a tight deadlock and shatter the hearts of the OP squad. 

The ice-cold dagger earned Chan the Best Player of the Game honors, putting an exclamation mark on a fiercely contested battle.

Following his game-winning heroics, Chan credited the unwavering trust of his squad for giving him the nerve to take the final shot. 

“Yung confidence nanggaling sa coaches ko, nanggaling sa teammates ko. So, talagang binuhos namin ngayon kasi semifinals na. Sabi nga namin, no more tomorrow, buhos kami. Yung confidence sa kanila talaga galing, bibitawan ko talaga,” Chan shared after steering the Graftbusters to the crucial series-opening victory.

Pushed to the brink of elimination, OP Bagong Pilipinas now faces a must-win situation heading into Sunday's Game 2. 

They must immediately regroup and bounce back to force a deciding tie-breaker if they want to keep their championship dreams alive, while the Graftbusters look to close out the series and secure their ticket to the finals.

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