RELEASE DATE: 11/30/05

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FORMER MU STANDOUT JASON BENSON SIGNS WITH PITTSBURGH XPLOSION OF ABA

PITTSBURGH – Former Mansfield University basketball standout Jason Benson was signed and immediately placed on the active roster of the Pittsburgh Xplosion of the American Basketball Association (ABA).

An All-PSAC East First Team selection last season, Benson averaged 18.4 ppg and 6.1 rebounds per game in helping the Mountaineers capture the PSAC East title.  He finished second in the PSAC in scoring and broke Mansfield University's single game scoring record with 53 points in the game vs. West Virginia State.

Benson spent this past summer in New Zealand playing for the Turanga Health Rising Sun Basketball Club in New Zealand’s professional basketball league.

The Pittsburgh Xplosion play in the Freddie Lewis Division, one of eight division in the ABA named after former ABA standouts before that league merged with the NBA. The new ABA includes team across the country as well as in Beijing and Tijuana.

Also on the Xplosion are former NBA players Armon Gillian, a 13-year veteran with the Suns, Hornets, Nets, Bucks and Jazz, and Myran Brown who was drafted by and played with the Minnesota Timberwolves after a four year career at Slippery Rock.

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