Tongco fills shoes of Red Lion captain Sara

San Beda’s Ranbill Tongco. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

In the absence of Dan Sara, San Beda looked for someone to lead the Red Lion charge, and it found one in Ranbill Tongco.

With Sara nursing an injured right ring finger, Tongco stepped into their captain’s shoes to steer San Beda over Emilio Aguinaldo College, 91-76, Tuesday at San Juan Arena.

Tongco is San Beda’s co-captain so he has every right to take over when needed.

“I was just stepping up for Dan,” said Tongco. “That’s why I’m the co-captain and if the captain is not around, you need to be the leader of the team.”

Tongco was fairly pedestrian for the Red Lions at the start of the season only averaging 7.5 points in the first two games while Sara had a better 14 points per game clip.

On Tuesday, though, Tongco delivered 22 points to lead the Red Lions to a 3-0 card.

“It doesn’t mean just scoring points, basta you’re helping the team in any situation,” said Tongco.