PROVIDENCE — For legions of Providence College basketball fans, games at Alumni Hall are only something their fathers rhapsodize about. Tomorrow, Friar fans will actually get a chance to experience a game on campus.

For the first time since an exhibition game against the Russian National Team on Jan. 22, 1978, the Friar men’s team will play a game at Alumni Hall. PC will host Merrimack College in this season’s exhibition opener.

The main question is why? The Friars are the highest-profile tenants of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center and have benefited greatly from playing downtown ever since that building first opened in 1972. But PC says the chance to try something new, plus the unspoken desire to save a little money, moved it to return to campus and the gymnasium that once featured greats like Lenny Wilkens, John Egan and Jimmy Walker.

“This is [athletic director] Bob Driscoll’s idea and his staff and I are excited about it,” said basketball coach Keno Davis. “We’ll look for any way to move the program forward, and this is an innovative idea. Our fans will enjoy seeing a game here and it adds some excitement to an exhibition game.”

Officials at PC and the Dunk insist this is a one-game treat. The two parties are actually nearing the completion of a multi-year lease agreement that will keep Friar games downtown for the foreseeable future.

In previous seasons, PC always included its two exhibition games at the Dunk in its season-ticket package. This time around, PC chose not to place the Merrimack game in the package. That saved the roughly 6,000 season-ticket holders some money but also denied the Dunk a date of revenue. PC’s current lease calls for a per-game payment of about $30,000, plus a $2 per ticket surcharge.

“We would’ve loved to have PC play their game here,” said Larry Lepore, the Dunk’s executive director. “We hope next year they go back to playing two exhibition games here. I don’t want to lose any games.”

Tickets for the Merrimack game ($15) are still available. Playing the game in the late afternoon (4 p.m.) on Halloween will certainly hurt chances of selling out a building that can seat about 2,300, but PC is hoping the game also gives its student body a unique chance to come and see the team a few steps from the dormitories.

The school is sponsoring a Halloween costume contest for students, with tickets to the Big East Tournament as the top prize.

“We’ll reserve a large section for the students across from the team bench and we already have about 750 student tickets sold. They’re excited,” said Carl LaBranche, PC’s associate athletic director in charge of facilities. “For everyone else, it is general admission seating.”

Fans who haven’t been on campus for years will see some major changes. The school is asking fans to enter the campus via the gate on Huxley Avenue, not the front gate off River Avenue. Security will direct cars to available lots. A new entrance to Alumni Hall is accessed through the new Concannon Fitness Center and not the old front door that faced Cumberland Street.

Providence enjoyed one of the best home-court advantages in the nation when the program burst onto the national stage back in the 1960s at Alumni Hall. In 17 seasons, PC compiled a 178-29 (.860) record in the arena and finished unbeaten five times: 1960, ’62, ’64, ’65 and ’72. The last regular-season Friar game in the building came against St. John’s on March 1, 1972.

The Merrimack team coming to Providence happens to be the best Division II club in New England. The Warriors finished 21-9 and played in the NCAA Tournament last year, and are picked seventh in the nation in one preseason poll. Darren Duncan, a point guard from New York City, and junior Darin Mency have both scored more than 1,000 points in their careers.

kmcnamar@projo.com