BILOXI, Miss. � Mississippi�s Greg Gardner made 32 saves and Louis Dumont picked up a goal to pull within one of the all-time ECHL points lead, as the Sea Wolves blanked the Texas Wildcatters, 4-0, in front of 2,732 fans at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.

With the victory, Mississippi leads the battle for the Nextel Cup, 2 games to 0 and remains in second place in the Central Division with 20 points.

�I�m happy for Gardner,� said Sea Wolves coach Bob Woods. �He played another great game today and deserved the shutout. It was a nice way to come back home, after a six-game road trip.�

Mississippi (8-5-4) opened the score on the power play. Brent Gauvreau, extended his point streak to eight consecutive games, ripping a right circle shot over the right shoulder of Davis Parley at the 4:50 mark.

At 19:02 of the first period, Dumont edged to within one point of Rod Taylor on the all-time ECHL points list, by scoring on a centering pass from Sergei Kuznetsov. The goal for Dumont gave him 688 career ECHL points and nine goals on the season.

In the second, Kuznetsov buried a Jim Baxter pass in front at 6:27. With the assist, Baxter extended his point streak to nine straight games.

Kuznetsov went back to work later the stanza, breaking in on a 2-on-1 break with Dumont. Kuznetsov used the veteran, Dumont, as a decoy and sent a wrist shot into the back of the net from the right dot, for his second of the night.

Texas (4-10-1) was unable to solve Gardner, who turned away 15 first period shots, 10 shots in the second and seven third period shots. The shutout was Mississippi�s first this season, and first for Gardner since Game 2 of the 2003 Southwest Division Finals at Louisiana on April 12.

Mississippi converted on 2-of-6 power-play opportunities, while Texas failed to score on four chances with the man advantage. Wildcatters outshot the Sea Wolves, 32-29.

Earlier in the day, the Sea Wolves activated goaltender Sean Matile from the 7-day injured reserve and signed rookie defenseman Jason Kean, who played his first pro game and finished with a plus/minus of +1 and two penalty minutes.

The game featured the 3rd annual Nextel/Sea Wolves Howl Against Hunger raising 800 pounds of canned goods and non-perishables for Back Bay Mission in Biloxi. Fans received a "Howl Towel." The Sea Wolves get back into action at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday at Pensacola. Listen live on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 and online at www.msseawolves.com beginning with the Nextel Pregame Show at 6:50 p.m.

Mississippi�s next home game is at 7:35 p.m. for Thanksgiving Thursday against the Columbus Cottonmouths. The game will be broadcast only in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on 88.5 FM.

Individual game tickets are available at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all TicketMaster locations and by calling 228-594-3707.

Season seat packages, flex plans and discounted group tickets are still on sale by calling 228-275-WOLF.

--- Box Score ---

DATE - 11/23/03 Texas (0) at Mississippi (4)

SCORE BY PERIODS
Texas       0 0 0--0
Mississippi 2 2 0--4

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Mississippi-Gauvreau 7 (game winner) (power play) (Hutchins; Lisabeth) 4:50. 2, Mississippi-Dumont 9 (power play) (Kuznetsov; Maxwell) 19:02. Penalties: Lawrence, TEX (Roughing), 3:08. Cunningham, TEX (Roughing), 8:33. Blais, MIS (Roughing), 8:33. Metcalfe, TEX (Fighting, Major), 11:36. Maxwell, MIS (Fighting, Major), 11:36. Baxter, MIS (Slashing), 12:18. Metcalfe, TEX (Board check), 18:38.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Mississippi-Kuznetsov 4 (Baxter; Ellis-Toddington) 6:27. 4, Mississippi-Kuznetsov 5 (O'Rourke; Evangelista) 19:41. Penalties: Kuznetsov, MIS (Slashing), 6:49. Kean, MIS (Cross checking), 8:39. Cava, MIS (Elbowing), 12:51.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Maxwell, MIS (Holding stick), 3:23. Cunningham, TEX (Holding stick), 7:25. Guinn, TEX (Ten minute misc.), 10:35. Maxwell, MIS (Ten minute misc.), 10:35. Langdone, TEX (Roughing), 10:35. Cava, MIS (Roughing), 10:35. Cabana, TEX (Cross checking), 12:08. Langdone, TEX (Fighting, Major), 12:47. Cava, MIS (Fighting, Major), 12:47. Metcalfe, TEX (Holding stick), 12:47. Cabana, TEX (High sticking), 18:53.

SHOTS ON GOAL
Texas      15 10  7--32
Mississippi 9  8 12--29

Power Play Conversions: Texas - 0-of-4, Mississippi - 2-of-6.

Goalies: Texas-Cugnet (14 shots, 13 saves); Parley (15 shots, 12 saves; record: 3-3-1). Mississippi-Gardner (32 shots, 32 saves; record: 7-3-3).

A: 2732. Referee: Banfield. Linesmen: Ross; Jones.