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Projected 1st rounders Quinto, Salem slip to next 2 rounds of PBA Draft

Ginebra used its one and only pick in the draft for Matt Salem. Dennis Acosta
By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Bong Quinto and Matt Salem, who were tipped to be selected in the first round of the Philippine Basketball Association Draft, found themselves outside the Top 12 at the draft proper on Sunday night at the Robinson's Place Manila atrium.

Quinto eventually found himself with Meralco as the 14th overall pick, the second pick of the second round.

Salem, on the other hand, fell all the way to the third round and even almost fell to the fourth only that Ginebra, which did not have a pick in the first two rounds, selected him with the last pick of Round 3, the 32nd pick overall.

Paul Varilla was the first player selected in Round 2 as Rain Or Shine used the 13th overall pick on him.

Also making the second round were Jeepy Faundo (Magnolia), Kris Porter (NLEX), G-Boy Babilonia (Alaska), Cyrus Tabi (Columbian), Robbie Manalang, Harold Ng (both selected by ROS too), Ron Dennison and Joe Trinidad (both drafted by Phoenix).

Meanwhile, the Dyip used the first pick of the third round on Teytey Teodoro, while the Blackwater Elite got Diego Dario with the second pick of the said round.

TNT and San Miguel, which like Ginebra did not have a pick in both the first and the second rounds, used their picks on JR Ongteco and Ryan Monteclaro respectively.

The rest of the third rounders were Edrian Lao (NorthPort), Ivan Villanueva (Phoenix), Steven Cudal (Meralco), and Kyles (NLEX) and Kent Lao (ROS).

Overall, 43 of the 47 eligible aspirants were drafted to the PBA with John Ragasa being the last pick by the Batang Pier in the fifth round.

Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno