It was the atmosphere. McDonough Arena, with a capacity of less than 3,000 people, was a fortress that night. The players and the fans fed off of each other in ways that are simply impossible at the spacious Verizon Center.

Last year, we went to Georgetown’s game against Syracuse, the last that the historic foes would play as Big East rivals. The buildup to that game was immense, with students camping out downtown. College GameDay’s presence only added to the fanfare. It was the perfect storm: a nationally hyped game with our most vicious rival, a top-10 caliber Georgetown team which all resulted in a resounding victory for the Hoyas. And even with this game — one of the greatest occasions in Hoya basketball history — in mind, we still contend that the most fun that we, the students, have ever had at a Georgetown basketball game was at last week’s opening round NIT game versus West Virginia.

If you missed this game, you missed the ideal college basketball experience. It was a rare glimpse into the college basketball of the past, with rowdy fans packed into our small, on-campus field house. The 650 Georgetown students were right on top of the court, with everyone’s cheers loudly reverberating around the small gym.

From the students’ perspective, we actually felt like we were having an effect on the game. Our players were clearly feeding off of our energy and, equally important, we were affecting the play of the Mountaineers — no matter how much Head Coach Bob Huggins attempted to deny it.

In particular, we sympathize for one West Virginia player who air balled early in the game. Every time he touched the ball from that point on, the entire arena chanted “air ball” in unison. When he fouled out of the game, the greatest “left/right” taunt in Georgetown history (maybe) ensued, with the fans mocking each one of his steps while he walked off the court and until he finally sat down.

The game ended with Georgetown pulling away to a blowout victory and, appropriately, the crowd jeeringly serenaded the Mountaineers back to the locker room with a rendition of “Na na na na, hey hey, goodbye.” In their postgame interviews, the Georgetown players and Head Coach John Thompson III lauded the fans and attributed their energy, at least in part, to that of the crowd.

So, the question that naturally stems from this: Why has Georgetown not pursued an intimate, on-campus arena? In his postgame interview, Thompson gave us the same spiel that he has for years, which goes something like, “we would lose a lot of money playing at McDonough and simply can’t afford it.”

We understand that college sports is unfortunately a business where the bottom line will always trump the pursuit of perhaps a more lofty goal, like playing in a packed, on-campus arena with an electric environment. So, the on-campus arena may be unrealistic, but that does not mean that our push for games on campus should end.

All that we ask is one game. Bring one game each season to McDonough, and, although we would rather have an arena on campus, we will be satisfied with this compromise. However, there are a few caveats to this idea. The Big East Conference has a rule requiring that each team’s home arena hold more than 5,000 people. So, even though we could not host a Big East game, we see no reason why we couldn’t host a low-caliber, nonconference team at McDonough. We have hosted teams such as High Point at Verizon Center, and a game against a team of that caliber might draw 5,000 fans, on a great day.

While we might still lose some money by hosting a single game on campus, compared to the amount of money that Georgetown basketball makes over the course of the season, the loss from this one game would be negligible. And isn’t that loss less important when compared to the happiness of the fans and students who have suffered for years in the cavernous Verizon Center? We believe that the university should, at least in this case, acquiesce to the desire of its students. Bring one game a year — just one — to McDonough. Is it really too much to ask?

MALIK WILLIAMS and ALEXANDER GARBER are sophomores in the College.