ATLANTA — North Carolina survived its ACC opener on Friday thanks to some fortuitous Jason Capel 3-point missiles.

It may have survived Saturday’s semifinal with fifth-seeded Georgia Tech because of some fortuitous whistles.

The top-seeded Tar Heels (25-5) got a couple of breaks late in their 70-63 win and admitted as much.

The clinching bucket that sent the Heels into today’s 1 p.m. championship game against Duke was an uncontested dunk with 14 seconds to go by Julius Peppers. Unfortunately, Peppers shuffled his feet well before he salted the game away.

“Pep coulda got called on that one,” said UNC coach Matt Doherty, barely suppressing a giggle. “He’s got to remember in this sport that you’ve got to dribble the ball. You can’t just tuck it in under your arm and run with it.”

The call that came with 33 seconds left and the Tar Heels clinging to a 64-63 proved far more critical.

Joseph Forte drove the baseline, then appeared to stumble and lose the ball out of bounds. But the sophomore star was the beneficiary of a call against diminutive Tech guard T.J. Vines, who was whistled for a foul that sent Forte to the line. Forte made both free throws for a three-point lead.

“That was a good, savvy play by me,” said Forte. “I was a little out of control, but I saw T.J. was close to me, so I fell down. I was fortunate.”

When the replays were shown on the big screen at the Georgia Dome, those waving yellow pom-poms (a group that included both Tech fans and their Duke allies), went crazy.

“Ah, from my angle Joe was fouled,” said Doherty, with a smile. “We could hear that foul all the way over on the bench.”

Tech coach Paul Hewitt, who declined a few dozen times to comment on the officiating in that final minute, would only say that he was proud of his guys for being in position to win the game against a great team.

“We had a chance to win,” he said. “We just didn’t.”

It was a small miracle that Tech (17-12) stayed in hailing distance of the Tar Heels, who beat them for the seventh straight time. Tech’s offense was horrid and the Tar Heels’ defense, anchored by big man Brendan Haywood, was torrid in the first half. The Yellow Jackets led 23-16 with 8:11 to go in the first half, then went the rest of the half without a field goal to sink behind 29-25 at the break.

Still, the Jackets had cause to hope. They had shot 27 percent, including 3-for-16 on 3-pointers, but were still in the game. Their other reasons for optimism were that Tar Heel star Forte already had three fouls, while Haywood had two. Plus, Tar Heel big man Kris Lang had limped away with a torn muscle in his right leg.

The Heels’ lead shrunk slowly at first, then quickly as Tech guard Shaun Fein found his 3-point stroke. At 9:07, the lead had dissipated to 50-47 and Doherty had no choice but to send Forte back on the floor. Now, the game depended upon whether or not the Jackets could foul out Forte.

But Forte stayed on the floor and the Heels stayed in good position. Forte, only 3-for-11 in the first half, made half his 14 field-goal attempts in the second half, finishing with 27 points.

Still, Tech went in front 55-53 on a hoop by freshman Robert Brooks with 6:55 left.

But Capel tied it and Max Owen’s jumper put the Heels on top. A soft 3-pointer by Forte rolled around and around and then fell in for a 60-56 lead with 5:08 on the clock.

Tech kept coming, getting back within 64-63 on Fein’s third 3-pointer with 46.2 seconds left.

Then came Forte’s “clutch trip” to the foul line.

Doherty called a timeout after that to set up the Heels’ defense and it paid off. Tough “D” forced a wild pass from Akins, who fired the ball toward Vines, who was standing up on the Yellow Jacket sideline, cheering on his teammates.

That miscue came with 25 seconds left. Eleven seconds later, Peppers produced his questionable dunk.

A lob to center Alvin Jones went awry on Tech’s next possession and Forte finished off the scoring with a transition layup.

“UNC played with a lot of heart,” said a disconsolate Hewitt. “Forte carried them. He could be player of the year in this league and the country.

“At the same time, my guys gave me everything they had. They put themselves in position to win. The shots just didn’t drop for us this time.”

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NOTES:Doherty said Lang’s injury does not appear serious. He expects him to play against Duke, although he will be less than 100 percent. ... Tech finished with miserable 32.4 percent shooting for the game ... Fein and Akins combined for 35 points ... Haywood had 13 and Capel 11 for UNC.