Bosko Djurickovic coached 10 seasons at North Park before moving to Carthage, where he has been for 19 seasons. Carthage athletics file photo

Carthage jumped out to an early 21-2 lead, but the Red Men had to hold on down the stretch to defeat Millikin 80-76. The win gave coach Bosko Djurickovic his 500th career head coaching victory, 304 of them at Carthage.

Djurickovic, who spent his first 10 years as a head coach with North Park, won two national titles (1985 and 1987) and 196 games with the Vikings. He is 304-176 at Carthage and 500-255 (.662) overall.

Carthage (7-8, 3-2 CCIW) raced out to a 19-point lead, 21-2, at 12:03, with Cameron Van Wyk scoring six points in that stretch. Millikin responded with a 21-9 run to close the gap to seven points, 30-23, with 2:38 left in the half and the Red Men led by nine at the break, 36-27. 

Carthage started strong in the second half to extend its lead to 50-31 just over five minutes into the half. Once again, the Big Blue (6-10, 1-4) answered to close the margin to nine points, 64-55. It got even closer at the end, as Millikin made it a four-point game, 77-73, with 23 seconds remaining before Carthage went on to win.

Djurickovic also has a 282-239-2 record as a head baseball coach, over 14 seasons at North Park.