MORROW, Ga. – A pair of assists by sophomore forward Bilal Nakhli (Paris, France) helped Clayton State (8-7-1, 4-5-0 PBC) close out the regular season with a 2-0 victory over Barry (6-9-1, 2-6-0 SSC) in an NCAA Division II men's soccer game on Saturday, November 1.

Fighting an unseasonably cold day with temperatures in the mid 40's, it didn't take long for the Lakers offense to heat up. With 14:23 gone by, Nakhli sent a cross from right to left, finding sophomore midfielder Casey Shultis (McDonough, Ga.), who promptly buried the ball into the left corner of the goal for a 1-0 advantage.

Just under 12 minutes later, Nakhli would strike again, this time hitting leading goal scorer and junior Avery Shepard (Kennesaw, Ga.) on the left side of the goal. He quickly raised his season goal total to 11 as he drilled home a second score into the upper right corner of the net at 26:15.

The teams would take that margin into the break and not much would change over the final 45 minutes. While the Buccaneers managed several close headers among their five second half shots, all were either off the mark or turned away as Clayton State closed out the two goal victory.

Nakhli led the way for the Lakers with his two assists and Shultis and Shepard delivered the goals to pace the offense. Defensively, junior Viltsu Tuumi (Pori, Finland) got the start in goal and went all 90 minutes, making four saves along the way to pick up the win and deliver his first shutout of the season.

Barry managed 11 shots on the day, but just four on goal, all by different players. Mumbi Kwesele led with three shots, one on net. Jimmy McGregor played all 90 minutes and allowed both goals against just one save to suffer the loss and fall to 3-7.

Clayton State will now await word on the Peach Belt Conference Tournament seedings set to be released late this evening. Depending upon the outcome of remaining league games, the Lakers still have the opportunity to host a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, November 4.