BRIEFLY : EX-COWBOY TUINEI OVERDOSED ON HEROIN.

Byline: - Daily News Wire Services

Former Dallas Cowboys star Mark Tuinei went to an apartment to obtain heroin the night before he died and apparently used it as well as the drug Ecstasy, one of the team's players told police in a court document obtained Monday.

The document, which investigators filed to get a warrant to search Tuinei's house, contains information from Cowboys running back Nicky Sualua, who said he spent Wednesday evening with Tuinei in a Dallas apartment obtaining heroin.

``When Mark came back to the living room, he looked as if he was passing out. Nicky advised (that) Mark started having problems and stopped breathing,'' the affadavit said.

Sualua said Tuinei was alive when he dragged the 6-foot-5, 320-pound ex-offensive lineman from the apartment to his car. Sualua then drove to Tuinei's house in Plano, a suburb of Dallas.

Sualua got two blankets from the house and slept in the car with Tuinei until about 5:30 a.m. Thursday, he told police.

``When Nicky woke up, Mark was not breathing,'' the document said.

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Jessie Armstead signed a seven-year, $33 million contract with the New York Giants, making him one of the NFL's highest paid linebackers.

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International Speedway Corp. and Penske Motorsports Inc. said they had signed a merger agreement that will put 10 tracks in the U.S. under one company.

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GOLF: Karrie Webb won the rain-extended Titleholders Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla., beating Annika Sorenstam by three strokes.

TENNIS: Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the world's No. 1 player, broke a losing streak at seven matches, struggling past unseeded American Chris Woodruff 7-6 (7-1), 5-7, 6-4 in the first round of the Italian Open in Rome.

SOCCER: Debbie Keller, who claimed she was excluded from the U.S. women's soccer team in retaliation for a sexual- harassment lawsuit, lost her case against the U.S. Soccer Federation in Chicago.

HORSE RACING: In a rare move, the owner of a 3-year-old filly named Columbine Is Sad was allowed to change the horse's name in deference to the shooting victims in Littleton, Colo.