LOWELL, Mass. -- Greig Stire scored 16 points and added 15 rebounds to help lead Albany past UMass-Lowell 86-61 on Wednesday night.

With the win Great Danes have now won three straight games, eight of their last nine, and have locked up the second seed in the America East Conference tournament.

Peter Hooley also scored 16 points for Albany (23-7, 12-3). Joe Cremo added 15 points and Mike Rowley had 14 for the Great Danes.

Jahad Thomas led UMass-Lowell (11-18, 7-9) with 14 points and seven rebounds. Dontavious Smith finished with 11 points.

Albany led by just four at halftime but raced out on a 13-3 run to start the second half to seize a 44-30 lead. A Matt Harris jumper for UMass-Lowell cut it back to 49-41, but the Great Danes responded with a 16-2 stretch, capped by a Jamir Andrews 3, for a 65-43 lead to put the game out of reach.