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Despite being numerically eliminated from playoff contention, the Tampa Bay Titans traveled to Carolina to take on the Coyotes this past Friday, June 18 to try and play spoiler. And just when you thought the team might pack it in and look to next season, Harfouch & Co. provided one of their best overall performances of the year. Bassel’s 38 points were a season-high, but Harfouch was outdone in the scoring column by Patrick Burnett, who poured in 39 on a spectacular 13-14 from the field. Tray Boyd III dropped 24, Tony Winn scored 21 and Trevor Recio added 14 to lead Tampa to a 142-103 road win.

Entering Week 5 of the TBL season at 2-5, the Tampa Bay Titans were on the brink of needing to enter Desperation Mode. Their Friday night matchup with Carolina offered the Titans an opportunity not only to avenge a 124-107 Week 4 loss precipitated by a fourth quarter collapse, but a chance to alter the direction of their season on the whole. Fortunately for Tampa and their faithful fans, Terry Winn and Tray Boyd III both topped the 30-point mark and the Titans overcame a torrid late comeback by Carolina to muster a 134-127 OT win.

The Tampa Bay Titans entered their Week 8 matchups with Atlanta and Gulf Coast riding a three-game winning streak and boasting their first winning record of the season. In the Friday night road game against the Empire, 30 points from Bassel Harfouch wouldn’t be enough to extend the winning streak to four, as Tampa fell to Atlanta 100-94.

I was born in Tampa and raised in Los Angeles. I’ve always had a basketball in my hands since the age of 3. I fell in love with the game at a very young age. It was my getaway, my serenity. Growing up, Kobe Bryant was the one player I enjoyed to watch as well as study his game. I was driven to making it to the NBA. My family ended up moving to Lebanon when I was 11 years old. Lived 3 years in Lebanon before moving back to the states due to the war in the Lebanon. We moved to Tampa, FL

Early in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s matchup with Carolina, Tampa’s Bassel Harfouch drove left, jump-stopped and put in a silky finger-roll to bring the Titans within two at 89-87. Unfortunately for Tampa, that’s as close as they would get. The visitors turned up the defensive pressure in the closing period en route to a 124-107 Carolina win. The loss dropped Tampa to 2-5 and marked their first double-digit loss of the 2021 TBL campaign.

At 27-years old, Harfouch, a Tampa native who played his college ball at Alcorn St., is that rare sort of person who is driven equally by lofty aspirations and altruism. Harfouch signed a D-League contract after college, but wound up playing briefly for a team in Lebanon before returning home to Tampa to become player-owner of the Titans, one of 29 teams currently competing in the up-start TBL.

Contrary to popular belief, there is a professional basketball team in Tampa Bay. It may not be in the NBA, but it is now in downtown Tampa.

Tampa kicked off their Week 6 road trip with a visit to Raleigh, NC to face the Firebirds. Despite 31 points from Terry Winn, on 12-22 shooting, including 4-8 from downtown, Raleigh came up with the 126-113 win behind 27 points from Jamel McAllister. The loss dropped the Titans to 4-6 on the season with a visit to ATL just 48 hours in the distance.

Bassel Harfouch was excited when he heard that the Toronto Raptors were relocating to Tampa, Fla., for an indefinite chunk of the N.B.A. season.
“Maybe we can tap into some of the fans that get interested in the Raptors,” Harfouch said, “and kind of tell them, ‘Hey, when they’re gone, we’ll still be here.’”

While Bassel and the Tampa Bay Titans won’t be advancing to the TBL playoffs this season, they ended on a high note with a 138-119 win over rival Gulf Coast on Sunday. Harfouch ended the season with sensational statistics, averaging 24.1 PPG, 6.2 APG, 9.9 RPG and 2.2 SPG. Tray Boyd III was second on the team in scoring, pouring in 21.1 points per game on over 48% shooting.

Tampa trailed 91-87 entering the 4th quarter of Saturday’s game at the Firebirds. But on their first two offensive possessions of the period, Tray Boyd III would knock down consecutive three pointers from the left wing to put the Titans up 93-91, not even a minute in.

The second most exciting play of a great game took place when Bassel Harfouch, with his Titans trailing 104-102 with three minutes remaining, saved the ball under his own bucket, getting the ball to Tray Boyd III who sent a long outlet pass to Terry Winn. Winn went up for layup but was chased down by Carolina’s Deshaw Andrews who came up with the LeBron-like block from behind to start a fast break going the other way.

If Tampa wanted to keep pace with top teams in the East, they desperately needed two good showings this past weekend. And that is just what they got. Several times this season, Bassel Harfouch had flirted with a triple-double. In Friday’s matchup with Gulf Coast, he stuffed the stat sheet with 25-10-12 to go along with three steals and a block in a 129-122 home win. Tray Boyd III continued hot scoring as he topped the 20-point mark for the third straight contest, pouring in a game-high 33.