ATLANTA — Josh Pastner proclaimed that Georgia Tech's eighth Atlantic Coast Conference win is “literally a modern miracle.”

Then again, Pastner also suggested his overachieving Yellow Jackets already should be a lock for the NCAA tournament.

The first-year coach can be excused an exaggeration or two.

Ben Lammers scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half, Josh Okogie added 14 points and Georgia Tech beat Pittsburgh 61-52 on Tuesday night, adding another win to its season of surpassed expectations.

Georgia Tech (17-13, 8-9 ACC), expected to finish near the bottom of the ACC in a rebuilding year, will aim for a .500 finish in the league when it closes its regular season at Syracuse on Saturday.

“I really believe eight wins in the ACC should automatically get you in the NCAA tournament,” Pastner said.

Even Pastner was forced to acknowledge that his Yellow Jackets, who began the night with a No. 96 NCAA RPI, need to “keep on winning” — probably through the ACC tournament — to achieve that NCAA goal.

ACC scoring leader Michael Young led Pitt (15-15, 4-13 ACC) with 16 points. Cameron Johnson had 13.

A 3-point play by Jamel Artis gave the Panthers their last lead at 47-46 with five minutes left.

After a basket by Quinton Stephens gave the lead back to Georgia Tech, Lammers pushed the advantage to four points with a basket and free throw.

Pitt was hurt by second-half turnovers and what coach Kevin Stallings described as a problem with “coachability.”

Asked to elaborate, Stallings said “How about if the coach says run a play, come down and run the play instead of charge?”

Georgia Tech snapped a two-game losing streak.

“This is good, kind of a pick-me-up game,” Lammers said. “Hopefully we can take the momentum to Syracuse.”

Georgia Tech led only 51-50 when Okogie, playing with four fouls, converted a big 3-point play. Okogie was fouled by Chris Jones while scoring on a layup, and he made the free throw to push the lead back to four points. After a layup by Young, Okogie added a fall-away jumper.