Iranian club Mahram defeated Zain 78-68 in the 20th FIBA Asia Cup Championship (Discuss).

With two dominant scorers in Jackson Vroman and Samad Nikkah Bahrami, Mahram overwhelmed their Jordanian opponents beginning in the second quarter.

Vroman led Mahram with 19 points and 10 rebounds and was named MVP.

“I’m happier for the win than the MVP,” said Vroman. “All those points would have gone waste if not for the win.”

Mahram’s 5-11  guard Mahdi Kamrani put together a fantastic all-around game; he recorded 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks.   Bahrami added 18 points, with eights points in the final quarter to keep Zain at bay.

“This is the happiest moment of my life,” said Mahram coach Mostafa Hashemi. “It’s a tribute to our teamwork.”

The club from Tehran went undefeated in their seven tournament games and defeated each team by at least 10+ in each game. Mahram’s road to the championship went through several Asian clubs: Republic of the Philippine’s Smart Gilas, Lebanon’s Al-Riyadhi (two times), Kuwait’s Al-Qadsia, South Korea’s Sangmoo Army Club, India’s Young Cagers and finally Jordan’s Zain.

Ayman Idais led Zain with 22 points.  Jackson Vroman is a former NBA player born in California and played college ball in Iowa State.  Mahram borrowed the 6-10 center from another Iranian Super League club, Saba Mehr, for the sake of this tournament.

Mahram also features 7-4 former NBA center Priest Lauderdale.

With Mahram’s 2009 win, Iran has now won the last three Asia Cup Championships. Iran’s Saba Battery had won the two previous Asia Champions Cup in 2007 and 2008.

These last few years have been unprecedented for Persian basketball.  In addition to the Asia Cup titles, Iran also won the 2007 Asia Championships that earned a berth to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, their first Olympic basketball appearance in exactly 60 years.

Following the Olympics, Iran sent over their first NBA player Hamed Haddadi.

Links and Resources: Samad, Jackson power Mahram to Title (Iran Sports Press), Asia Champions Cup: It’s Mahram vs. Zain (Interbasket), Discuss: 20th FIBA Asia Champions Cup (Interbasket Forum)