Friday marked the end of a 10-day deadline set by United States officials for the Serbian government to return fugitive Miladin Kovacevic, a former Binghamton University basketball player, to the United States where he is wanted on assault charges.

A U.S. official told the Daily News that the government will continue to press Serbia for Kovacevic’s extradition.

Kovacevic, 21, fled the U.S. for his native Serbia in June after being charged with the May beating of another BU student at a bar on State Street in Downtown Binghamton.

Rich Schapiro’s story for the Daily News can be viewed at nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/07/31/2008-07-31_give_up_the_goon_today_serbs_told.html.