TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- No. 1 seed UT-Arlington used a strong defensive effort in building an 18-point halftime lead and then held off a furious second half comeback by No. 4 seed Southwest Minnesota State to earn a 61-48 victory in the semifinals of the National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament on Friday night on the campus of the University of Alabama.

SMSU, 1-1 overall, will now played in the third-place game on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. versus either Auburn or Eastern Washington.

UTA, a traditional power, held SMSU scoreless for the first five-plus minutes of the game in building a 10-0 lead and eventual 31-13 lead at halftime.

It looked like UTA would cruise to the win but SMSU would battle in the second half and cut the deficit to 40-29 with 11:48 remaining in the game. The Mustangs would later cut the lead to 45-40 with 7:30 remaining, but UTA answered with a big run to make the score 51-42.

Walter Johnson scored a team-high 15 points for the Mustangs, while Darius Jackson added 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting. 

Earlier in the day, Walter Johnson poured in 42 points on 20 of 26 shooting to pace SMSU to a 68-26 over No. 5 seed Eastern Washington University in the first round.
 
The Mustangs closed the game shooting 63 percent (32 of 52) from the field, while limiting the Eagles to 28 percent shooting.
 
Ezekiel Ramudzi added eight points for the Mustangs, while teammates Will Glendenning and Darius Jackson each chipped in with six points.