PHOTOS: Southwest, Washburn Give Jeremy Lin A Run For His Money

The four- and five-foot tall players raced around the court at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena, shooting baskets as the clock winds down.

Only these Muggsy Bogues-sized players weren't human at all. They were robots.

Aspiring engineers from across the Twin Cities metro area came together to compete in two regional high school FIRST Robotics tournaments from March 29-31. Both and  took part in the attempt to give Jeremy Lin a run for his money. Washburn finished seventh out of 63 teams, while Southwest finished 48 out of 63 teams.

The robotics season begins in January, when FIRST Robotics sends out information about the task the robots must complete in the competitive meets and a kit of parts and electronics for each robot. This year's challenge had robots—grouped by teams of three schools—trying to score as many baskets as possible in two minutes and 15 seconds of play.

Still, Southwest and Washburn might want to look into increasing their robots' jump height before calling up the Timberwolves. Wheels and treads make it a little hard to play defense against the likes of Patrick Ewing.

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