BRIEFLY : IS PITTSBURGH ABOUT TO LOSE PENGUINS?

Byline: - Daily News Wire Services

Pittsburgh inched closer Tuesday to joining Hartford, Winnipeg, Quebec and other cities that lost NHL teams. There is a new buyer's offer of $85 million to move the Penguins.

NHL attorney Jeffrey Levitan revealed the offer during a hearing on the league's request for quick work on the fate of the team, which is in U.S. Bankruptcy Court proceedings for the second time in 25 years.

The buyer is believed to be Paul Allen, the Seattle billionaire who also owns the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. The Penguins would provide another wintertime tenant for the Rose Garden in Portland.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman would not confirm Allen's bid during a news conference minutes before the Maple Leafs-Penguins playoff game Tuesday night.

Bettman said the NHL remains firmly behind Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux's reorganization plan, but time is growing tight as planning already is under way for the 1999-2000 season.

TENNIS: Pete Sampras beat unknown Bohdan Uhlirach 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) in his first-round match in the Italian Open but in the process made 49 unforced errors and raised questions whether he can ever adapt his game to the slow clay surface.

His opponent led 4-1 and 5-2 in the decisive third set and served for the match at 5-3 but was tentative and let Sampras take over the pace.

Talented but erratic Marcelo Rios was ousted by German qualifier David Prinosil 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

FOOTBALL: Former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Mark Tuinei died of an accidental drug overdose after taking a combination of heroin and a stimulant, according to a report from the Collin County medical examiner.

Plano police chief Bruce Glasscock said his department's investigation indicated Tuinei had never before used heroin, although he didn't detail how that determination was made.

``What you had was a 39-year-old male, 6-(foot)-5, in excess of 300 pounds, a healthy individual, took one shot of heroin and basically dropped dead as a result,'' Glasscock said.

Tuinei died Thursday morning.

NCAA: The NCAA officially brought an end to its most expensive mistake, transferring more than $54.5 million to an account controlled by lawyers for former restricted-earnings coaches.

The final accounting, agreed upon after the NCAA was found in violation of antitrust law for artificially capping the coaches' salaries, included $19,754.40 in interest since the NCAA was three days late in making the payment.

SOCCER: Despite the recent deep freeze in U.S.-China relations, Women's World Cup president Marla Messing said she is confident the Chinese - among the tournament favorites - will participate in this summer's event.

Messing said tourney organizers have not had any contact with Chinese soccer officials in the past few days but that she has no reason to believe China will pull out of the event to protest the mistaken U.S. bombing of its embassy in Belgrade.