WORCESTER Wolves' place in the BBL play-offs was confirmed last night despite a double-overtime defeat to Sheffield Sharks on Sunday.

Antwon Lillard's buzzer-beater triple secured Sheffield the narrow win but due to other results in the league, Wolves can now prepare for the post-season play-offs with one regular season game left to play.

Wolves now hold seventh place in the table having garnered 13 wins from their 29 matches. Irrespective of the outcomes of remaining fixtures, because of Worcester’s head-to-head superiority, none of the three teams directly beneath them in the standings, Bristol Flyers, Surrey Scorchers and Manchester Giants, can overtake their position.

Wolves appeared in control when holding a double-digit fourth quarter lead and still looked relatively comfortable with a 67-60 cushion with a minute and a half to play. But a late let-down allowed Sheffield to drag the contest into added time.

The visitors had the upper hand in the closing moments of both overtime periods but fragility at the free-throw line kept their hosts in the contest and gave them the chance to snatch an eventual game-winner.

After an even first quarter, the scores were locked at 20-20, and into the second period newcomer Daniel Johnson-Thompson made an immediate impact when converting passes from Maarten Bouwknecht and when blocking a lay-up attempt.

Josh McSwiggan inked the scoresheet three minutes before half-time for a 34-26 Wolves advantage but the offence then stalled and Sharks closed the gap to 34-31 by the break.

Williams started to heat up and himself aided a 48-43 lead entering the fourth quarter before more bustling from Williams and output from Lamarr Kimble tightened Worcester’s grip to 58-46 with seven minutes left.

However, a blistering ten-point burst from Sharks’ Nicholas Lewis hauled his side back into it with 14 seconds to go, Wolves clinging to a slender 68-66 lead.

After Tola Okiki split a pair of free throws, Sheffield forward Kipper Nicholls was able to connect from distance to extend the afternoon.

There was a similar close to the first period of overtime for Worcester, and an uplifting one for Sharks, when Kimble missed a late foul shot and Nicholls' late basket took the game to a second over-time period.

Just eight seconds were left in the second added period when Kimble stood at the foul-line with two chances to break an 88-88 tie. Both shots went awry and the ball went up-court to Antwon Lillard who prompted home celebrations with a buzzer-beating triple.