The defensive strategy isn't working.

Opposing teams sometimes think it's a good idea to pack in their defense to try and stop the two big men of the St. Joseph Flyers, 6-foot-7 Shawn Hacker and 6-3 Chris Laber.

But the Flyers have been able to unleash their outside shooting in such situations and that was the case Thursday night as St. Joseph downed the Portsmouth Notre Dame Titans 55-49.

Matt Hornbeck scored a career-high 24 points and Danny Stack drained three 3-pointers as the Flyers improved to 9-10 on the season.

"We shots extremely well, and Matt Hornbeck shot the ball well," Flyers coach Adam Simpson said. "They packed it in and we were able to take advantage of it."

Hacker still managed to get 16 points and haul down 15 rebounds for St. Joseph. Laber had 10 rebounds and Kyle Johnson got three assists and three steals.

Nicholas Chabot scored 12 points while Jacob Bowman and Cody Malone scored 10 points each for the Titans.

Hornbeck pumped in 10 points and Hacker 5 in the first quarter as St. Joseph took a 17-12 lead. Chabot and Bowman combined for 10 of the Titans points.

The Flyers held Notre Dame to just 6 points in the second quarter and Hornbeck scored 7 points and Hacker 6 as the lead grew to 30-18 at the half.

Stack nailed three trifectas in the third quarter and Hacker scored 5 points as St. Joseph built as much as an 18-point lead.

But Notre Dame chipped away as Chabot scored 6 points and Eric Billitner 5 to cut the deficit to 47-36.

"Danny Stack did a good defensive job on Bowman the second half and we got a big lead, but them we lost our intensity," Simpson said. "We missed some free throws at the end and they hit a couple of late 3-pointers to make the game seem closer than it really was."

The Flyers managed just 8 points in the fourth quarter but still held on for the win.

Notre Dame1261813--49

St. Joseph1713178--55

PORTSMOUTH NOTRE DAME:

Nicholas Chabot 6 0 0-0 12, Matt Mader 3 1 0-0 9, Jacob Bowman 2 2 0-0 10, Eric Billitner 1 2 0-0 8. Totals: 15

5

4-4

49. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON ST. JOSEPH (9-10):

Danny Stack 0 3 0-1 9, Kyle Johnson 0 0 0-1 0, Matt Hornbeck 5 4 2-2 24, Chris Laber 3 0 0-0 6, Shawn Hacker 7 0 2-2 16, Kurt Jordan 0 0 0-0 0, Jeremy Addis 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15

7

4-6

55. Rebounds: 35 (Hacker 15, Laber 10). Assists: 8 (Johnson 3). Steals: 12 (Stack 4, Johnson 3). Turnovers: 10. Blocked shots: Hacker 1.